The Little Merman
by sillypandalover91
Summary: Up where they walk, up were they run, up where they stay all day in the sun wondering and free. England wishes he could be part of their world. Upon saving America from drowning, this young merman will stop at nothing obtain his affection, even going as far as trading his voice for a pair of legs. AU and human names used.
1. Chapter 1

**The Little Merman**

Up where they walk, up were they run, up where they stay all day in the sun wondering and free. Arthur wishes he could be part of their world. Upon saving prince Alfred from drowning, this young merman will stop at nothing obtain his affection, even going as far as trading his voice for a pair of legs. AU and human names used.

**The Cast:**

Prince Eric: America/Alfred

Ariel: Britain/Arthur

Flounder: Italy/ Feliciano

Scuttle: France/Francis

Sebastian: Austria/Rodrich

King Triton: Scotland/Robert

Ursula: Russia/Ivan

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

"Please don't die. Please don't die. Please don't die." The mantra was being repeated desperately in a hushed voice as green eyes never left the sunflower. A red tail worked overtime in effort to reach the agreed upon location while the man watched in horror when yellow petals began to fall off. Already the stem was turning black from the exposure to such high concentration of salt but what could he do? He wanted it no…_needed_ it to live long enough to get it to his benefactor, else he'd suffer and everything he's gained would be lost. With that in mind, Antonio swam faster towards the mouth of a cave located dangerously close to a hotspot.

The water was beginning to increase in temperature the closer he got to the cave; bubbles spewed from neighboring mounds as if to demonstrate just how hot the water was. Antonio winced in pain, the skin on his torso was reddening from the heat and the delicate portion of his fin was beginning to sting. Despite this, he pushed himself further and was surprised when the water suddenly became cool. 'Gracias al Rey,' he thought to himself in relief. The cool water was blessing to his skin and he smiled. Perhaps the sea warlock wasn't as cruel as he thought. Antonio saw a glow of light and followed it; his heartbeat increasing in speed as he grew closer and surfaced into a pocket within the cave. Looking down at the flower he paled. "No. Oh no. No, no,no," he cried in horror.

"What's wrong, comrade? You didn't have a hard time finding the place, did you?" Antonio shivered at the overly friendly voice. "Oh, was the water too hot? I'm sorry; I did cool the water around us but well," Ivan glanced over his shoulder as he lounged inside a crater where the water was obviously hotter than the water lapping against Antonio's back, "_I_ personally love warm water."

Antonio watched as two mermaids reached around and fed the warlock live shrimp, the poor creatures looking at him desperate for help. Antonio feared for his own safety to take theirs into consideration so he waited patiently for Ivan to finish. Ivan closed his lips around Natalya's fingers, making her blush and rush to get another one but her sister, Natasha, beat her to it. With a smirk, the merman flicked his black tail in contentment before hoisting himself out of the crater to drag himself closer to the edge, "Tell me then, comrade, did you bring me what I asked for?"

Looking down at his hands, Antonio sheepishly brought out the wilted flower, "I-I tried. Believe me I tried but every time I brought one with me, it would die. Please, give me more time. I'm sure I'll figure out a way and-"

Ivan took the dead flower and frowned. "More time? The contract specifically stated that you would only have three days to complete your end of the deal. I held up my end, da? I gave you strength. I made desirable so that your lover would pay more attention to you." His face darkened, "I gave you everything you asked for and _this_ is how you repay me?" He shoved the dead flower in Antonio's face, "You're mocking me aren't you?"

Antonio frantically waved his hands in defense, "No! I'd never do that, Ivan. Please, I can make this work if you just give me another chance."

Cheery violet eyes looked over to his sisters, "Natasha. Natalya." The mermaids came closer and laid on either side of their brother, heads cocked in question. "What do you girls think? Should I give him another chance?"

"No brother. A deal is a deal," spoke Natasha quietly eying the flower with disgust. She ran a hand through his platinum hair.

"I agree with big sister, you should take care of him now, big brother." Natalya slapped her sister's hand away and placed a yellow flower in her brother's hair.

Ivan nodded in approval. "Well, you heard them. I'm sorry, comrade but a deal is a deal. It's such a shame really. You should've known that bringing sunflowers into the sea would only be sentencing them to death. Poor things."

Antonio stopped shaking when he realized what the warlock had said. "Y-you knew that would happen? That they would die?"

"Of course. Everyone knows that flowers from the surface can't handle the amount of salt in sea water. And the hotspot water would only kill the flower faster because it's too hot." Ivan smiled pleasantly, his eyes closing with cheerfulness.

"You cheater! You tricked me!" The teenaged merman felt himself grown angry. "How could you-"

"Ah-ah-ah. You brought this upon yourself." When Antonio made a move to flee, Ivan jumped in and grabbed him. "You weren't thinking of leaving so soon where you? You still need to pay me for my services." His hands glowed an eerie purple as he ran them through the panicking merman's hair, down his face, chest and tail. Antonio clenched his eyes in pain when he felt a burning sensation on his back and cried out when he felt his body convulse. Ivan backed away to watch with his sisters as his dark magic worked. "This business transaction is complete, da?"

* * *

**~Three Weeks Later ~**

All of Atlantica was in mourning of their late King yet they watched proudly as their crown prince Robert, eldest of King Triton's sons, was being crowned as their new King. His golden tail curled underneath him, the tip fanning out delicately, as he waited for his close friend, Rodrich, to place the crown upon his head. Usually it was the duty fell upon a member of the court to crown the prince but the last remaining member had also died, leaving behind two grandsons. As it were, the oldest grandson was mourning not only the loss of his grandfather but also the disappearance of his lover. The youngest was far too young to be able to perform such an important task and was also mourning his grandfather.

"All hail King Robert, King of the seven seas and sole wielder of the powerful trident," shouted Toris, the royal herold. Applause erupted from the citizens of Atlantica as they cheered for Robert.

The red-headed merman swam before them and raised the Trident in his right hand. Serious green eyes were fighting back tears at feeling the weight of the golden crown on his head that once sat on his beloved fathers. "Thank you. I vow to always keep Atlantica safe from harm. I will find who is responsible for the disappearances, this I promise you. My father left behind a legacy that I can only hope to live up to and as my first decree as your king, and in honor of my father, I forbid anyone from going to the surface." Nobody dared to argue against that. They understood and honestly saw it coming; had it not been for the surface and its dwellers, the king's father would still be alive. And so would the last member of the court who had died protecting him.

When the ceremony ended, Robert sat on his throne. Rodrich swam to him followed closely by a brunette with a curl fly away. Robert stared at it wondering how it was possible for that single curl to stay that way in the water. Then again perhaps it would be best if he didn't question it, in all his years knowing the Italian merman, it had always done that. Lovino brought his hands across his chest, his face in a scowl but both Robert and Rodrich could see the pain in his eyes. "I take it Antonio hasn't returned," asked the king, hands running across the trident.

"No and to be frank, I'm starting to think he just left me. Not that I blame him, I can be an ass," Lovi looked away and Rodrich had to bite his tongue to echo the statement. The men made small talk until Toris swam in frantically.

"Forgive me your majesty," he panted, "But the guards have new information on the disappearances." Toris handed over a ledger with information to Rodrich who glanced it over. "It would seem that all signs point to…t-to Mr.I-I-I"

"Ivan," finished Rodrich. He gave the ledger Robert so that he could see for himself. "Ivan is the teacher at the Atlantica Academy. He teaches witchcraft. I know because I use to attend the school as a child. Lovi did too if I recall."

"That guy was weird. His sisters are ever weirder. I remember failing the class; I never was very good at with all that hocus pocus nonsense," muttered Lovi, his tail twitching with irritation. "He said he could make me stronger if I made a deal with him but old grandpa taught me better than that. Said 'Lovi, if you only learn one thing from me let it be this: Never make deals with crazy. I've lived by that creed and so far I've been fine."

Rodrich chuckled at that. He remembered meeting Lovi's grandfather a couple of times and the merman had always been offering strange yet helpful advice. "I agree. Ivan is a little strange. He threatened to turn me into a sea urchin because I was busy writing symphonies during class instead of helping him with the end of term project. He was my partner in class, though not my instructor. I pity your luck, Lovino."

"Shut up. I'm going to go see to supper. Good luck with Ivan, your majesty." Lovino took Toris's arm and dragged him out of the throne room.

Robert looked away from the ledger, eyes darkening. "Do you think this is true? Do you think Ivan's capable of this?"

"I have no doubt in my mind," answered Rodrich, " It wouldn't be the first time Ivan's made deals with merfolk and it certainly won't be the last. Lovi's right, the merman is bad news."

"Do you think that others like him will rise to what he's done?"

"Others? You mean like Lovino and myself?"

"No. I trust you and him. The others, not so much."

"Your brother, young Arthur, has the talent as well, your majesty. And unlike myself and Lovi, he has great potential. His tail is already showing the coloring that marks magic prone merfolk." Rodrich looked down to his own tail. The plum scales reflected pale lilac and lightened in color as it reached his fin but along the base, where tail became fin, there was a ring of black scales. He glanced at his friend with a raised eyebrow, "What do you plan to do about that?"

Robert rolled his eyes, "It's simple really. I'm going to place a ban on magic in Atlantica. Those who wish to stay will be sealed so that they can't practice magic. You…you wouldn't mind that would you? Do you think Lovino would?"

"His majesty is kind to think of us but no. We wouldn't mind. As you know, I prefer my music and Lovi prefers to cook in your kitchen. Not mention leaving Atlantica would prove too much heart break for him and his brother."

"Indeed. Speaking of brothers, where's mine?"

Before Rodrich had a chance to speak a guard swam in, "Your majesty. Ivan has been located."

"Finally, some good news. Have you apprehended him?"

"No, sir. You see the young prince is with him. Prince Arthur is…he's being instructed, sir." The merman flicked his fin nervously, "he's being instructed in magic." He watched as his king clutched the trident tightly in his hands. He saluted in response to the unasked question and began to lead the king towards where his men had found Ivan. "He's just over here, your majesty."

Sure enough they found the sea warlock in the royal playroom. Ivan sat on a rock near Arthur while the boy arranged runes in order. The older blond merman nodded in approval, "Da, that's very good. Very good. Oh, hello Robert," he said with a smile. "Did you come to learn from me as well?"

Robert pulled his little brother away and snarled at Ivan, "Don't you dare come near my brother or family again. As a matter of a fact I don't want you here anymore. From here on out you are banished from Atlantica. You and any other merfolk who refuse to have their power sealed. Leave now! You are here by exiled do you hear me? Exiled!" He turned to the guard, "You make sure my orders are carried out."

"B-but big brother," started Arthur with tears welling in his eyes, "He wasn't doing anything wrong. I like magic."

Rodrich took him in his arms, being mindful of the little prince's fin, "Come on, Arthur. Leave your brother to his duties. I have someone I'd like for you to meet." With a nod to the Robert, he swam towards Arthur's room. The little merchild was crying softly in his arms. "He's doing it because he thinks its for the best, little one. We're going to be sealed so don't worry we won't be banished."

"It's not that," Arthur sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "I'm alone now. Dad's dead. Ivan is being banished. I have no one."

The older man blinked in confusion. "No one? You have six brothers and a whole nation who loves you. How can you say you're lonely?"

"Yeah, and they're all older than me and they pick on me." He sighed and looked away, "Just leave me. I want to be alone." The boy curled up in his bed, a large clam with purple sheets and pillows. He held tight to a green sponge shaped into a seahorse, a gift from his father. When he heard Rodrich sigh and leave he started to cry some more. "It's not fair. Bugger all, it's not fair." A timid knock startled the little prince and he curled into himself, "G-go away!" The knocking became a bit more insistent and Arthur puffed his cheeks in annoyance. Grumbling to himself, he swam angrily to the door, "I said go aw-oh…I'm sorry I thought you were Rodrich." He watched the little boy in front of him poke his fingers sadly. His eyes fell on the satchel wrapped around him. "Um, are you lost?"

They boy shook his head, "No. My brother told me to come here."

"You're brother?"

"Lovino. He's your chef here. Rodrich and him are friends, I think," he added as an after thought not meeting the blonde's green eyes. "They told me to stay in here."

Arthur nodded but didn't really understand why they would send a stranger to his room. He moved aside and motioned for him to come in. Feli did so, albeit slowly. Arthur watched Feli's tail move on its own accord and the boy sat on the ground. "You can sit on the bed if you want. It's big enough for the both of us." Feli moved onto the bed and hugged the bag to his chest. "What's in there?"

"My treasure."

"Treasure? Like pirate treasure? I heard they're pretty scary."

"No, it's just my special things. I wasn't allowed to bring much with me after….after my grandpa died," mumbled Feli with tears welling in his eyes. Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. He did after all know what the poor boy was going through. "They're things my grandpa and I collected from the surface."

The surface? This intrigued the young prince and he sat next Feli. "Really? Can I see?" He watched as Feli's face changed into an excited on as he emptied the contents of the bag onto the bed. There were only a handful of goodies and to some it may not look like much but to the Arthur, it was as if he'd stumbled upon a whole new world. "What's all this?"

"I don't really know honestly. I just know that this," he picked up a compass, "lets you know where you are when you're lost. And this, "He picked up a telescope, "lets you see things from far away. There's also this, "He picked up a comb, "I don't know what this is but it looks cool."

Arthur took it from him and inspected it closely, "It looks like it's to play with the sand. Like maybe you run it on the sand and it makes lines and you can make fun things. Or even just to plant more seaweed!"

"Hey, that's a good idea. I never thought about it. Here you can have this one." Feli handed him a little figurine of two people dancing. "It makes noise when you move them. Look." He placed it on the bed and took ahold of the man's foot to make him twirl. A little chime from inside played a tune as he completed the cycle.

"What about this?" Arthur reached for a sea shelled box but Feli was quick to grab it. The blond blinked in surprise.

"I'm sorry. It's just that this is my most specialist treasure ever. My friend gave it to me." He opened the box to reveal a black iron cross. "I met him on the surface and he gave this to me."

Well now, Arthur was all ears. "Please, tell me about it. What's it like? What was this human like? Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Prince Arthur, but you can just call me Arthur. What's your name?"

"My name is Feliciano but you can call me Feli. All my friends do." He looked at Arthur's ruby scaled tail and saw the black along the sides of his fin. "Are you a magic merman?"

Arthur looked away sadly, "I am but I'm not going to be anymore. Big brother is going to seal away my magic abilities."

"I'm sorry. My brother can do magic too, or at least he had the ability to. I don't think he liked it much. Anyway, my grandpa and I use to play near the surface all the time. He had a crush on this blond human but he never got the nerve to say anything."

"Why?"

"He was married and had two sons. The littlest one's name was Ludwig. He's my friend I was telling you about. I think they're really nice creatures. Grandpa's crush use to give him sweet wine and tasty food and play music while grandpa sang. When he introduced his wife…well, grandpa got sad and never went to see him again. I think the man was sad too cause every time I'd go up to play with Ludwig he'd ask me about him." He traced the edges of the cross then looked at Arthur. He smiled when he saw that the prince's eyes were wide with wonder. "Ludwig gave me this as a promise that we'd always be together forever but then…when I went again a few weeks ago after my grandpa d-died, he wasn't there. No one was there. They'd gone a-a-away," Feli broke down into sobs and Arthur quickly hugged him.

"Don't cry, Feli. I'll be your friend."

"Really?"

"Of course!" Arthur rubbed his new friend's back, "And maybe we can go treasure hunting for more things like these."

"Ok!"

Over the course of the week Feli and Arthur grew closer at an alarming rate, yet Robert was highly thankful that his youngest brother had found someone to keep his mind off all the changes that where happening around him. A fourth of Atlantica's magical merpeople had left due to his ban on magic use aside of the Trident. The rest of them had allowed him to seal the power away, the black markings on their tails and fins lightening into silver. A mark on their arms, chest or back was the only proof that they had undergone the procedure.

Rodrich eyed his pectoral with distaste, "Really? Couldn't you have put it somewhere else?"

The King smirked, "What don't like it? I think it suits you." He poked at the music note on his friend's chest. "I could've given you something else. Want me to change it?" Rodrich sighed and shook his head no.

"How did Arthur take it?"

"He did fine. Feli's with him in their room."

Feli swam closer to his friend as Arthur laid on his bed, "Did it hurt?"

"Not really. It just felt funny to have the color drain from my fin. Does it look bad," asked Arthur flipping his fin about.

The little brunette waved the bubbles away and shook his head, "I think it looks pretty. I wish my tail was red like yours."

"But your tail is prettier than mine! I like how it fades to other colors at the fin." Feli laid next to him with his little arms over his head. "Hey, Feli?"

"Hmm?"

"Let's go to the surface one day. Promise that if either one of gets a chance to, we won't go without the other." Arthur played with the edge of his pillow as he waited for his friend's response.

"Can I look for Ludwig if we do," he asked after a while.

"Sure." He turned over onto his side so that he could look Feli in the eye and reached out his pinkie finger. "Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

***Gracias al rey: Thank the King**

**Please don't be upset that I used Italy as Flounder. I love Italy and...well I love Italy/Germany. I don't think that I'll write a fic without them together. Except perhaps one but even so. Also, I know it's cliche that I used Russia as Ursual, and while I don't really agree with incest (rest assured that there will NOT be any) I have Russia tease his sisters in order to keep them loyal to him. I listened to Carrot and a Stick and well, lol I feel bad for poor Russia. Anyway, I'm working on the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy the story.  
**


	2. Mysterious Fathoms Below

**America/Alfred: 19**

**Americat/Max: 1 year old**

**Canada/ Matthew: 19**

**Britain/Arthur: 18**

**Italy/Feliciano: 18**

**Germany/Ludwig: 19**

**Prussia/Gilbert: 21**

**Austria/ Rodrich: 30**

**Scotland/Robert: 32**

**N. Ireland/ Connor: 22**

**S. Ireland/ Murphy: 22**

**Whales/David: 20**

**New Zealand/ Kyle: 24**

**Australia/Christian: 27**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

**~10 Years Later ~**

Nets tugged at the pulley, signifying that they were full and ready to board the ship. Calloused hands from life at sea heaved the heavy load. Rough as it may be, the crew wouldn't trade their profession for the world. Best part of all was their Princes, Alfred and Matthew; such men of their kind were rare to come by. Royalty willing to partake in voyages that were…not quite fit for a royal to say the least and to actually help keep the ship in top shape was nearly unheard of and yet, here they were. Finer leaders, they would find none. Still, one would have to do something to pass the time. So one of the sailors began to sing as he pulled, "Heave-ho, heave-ho; I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea. And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho. The ruler of all of the ocean is he in mysterious fathoms below."

The crew, familiar with the song, sang along with him, "Fathoms below, below from whence wayward westerlies blow. Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing in mysterious fathoms below."

Soft sea spray misted Alfred's pale cheeks as he leaned forward over the ship. With a hand firmly griping some rope, and another holding his cat in place on his shoulder, he closed his eyes in pleasure at the cool mist and the scent of salt water. He giggled when he saw a family of dolphins skip alongside of his ship, "Look, Mattie, dolphins! Isn't the sea great?! What with the salty sea air and wind blowing in your face." He watched as seagulls and pelicans dove into the water to catch some fish. Alfred tossed them some chunks of bread.

Matthew moaned in agony, his hand over his mouth. Poor thing he looked absolutely miserable with his head hung over the edge. He looked up at his brother, "Oh, yes," he dry heaved and emptied his stomach over the side, "Delightful." The younger twin wiped his mouth with his handkerchief as he sat down on a barrel. He raised an eyebrow at his brother's un-princely like behavior and sighed, "Alfred, please come off of there. You're going to get hurt."

"No, I'm no-woah!" Alfred slid off the ledge and laughed at his brother's panic stricken face. "Just kidding. Come on, Mattie. Loosen up! I'm a hero remember; it's going to take more than a slippery ledge to take me down." Max meowed in agreement.

Matthew groaned and buried his face in his knees. "You have Ludwig to protect you. Besides, the ledge is slippery because of this terrible storm. I hate it! It's making the ship move more than it should and it's making me seasick."

"Keseseseses~ don't be like that, Birdie, it's just a bit of a drizzle. Now see that way over yonder? _That's _a storm. Right here, right now, there's a fine strong wind and a following sea. Old Fritz must be a good mood this morning," said Gilbert smacking the young prince on his back. The albino tugged at the ropes to tighten the sails. He ducked when a fish went soaring by his head. "Oi, West, don't be wasting the grub! I'm going to need it for tonight's feast." Gilbert sent a dark look over to his young brother, one that the blond returned.

"I wouldn't be 'wasting' it if you got the name right. Don't listen to him, Prince Alfred, my bruder is an idiot. He meant to say _King Triton_ was in a good mood," said Ludwig with a straight face, ignoring his brother's eye roll.

The twin princes exchanged curious glances, "King Triton," the asked in unison.

Ludwig nodded and continued to sort out their catch. "Yes, he's king of the merpeople." He smirked and pointed at his charge with a fish, "Every good sailor should know that."

When the royal twins looked like they were going to ask for more information on merpeople, Gilbert intervened. "Pay him no mind, Birdie. He's not all there in the head. Hasn't been since he was a kid and almost drowned. He kept saying some nonsense about how some little merbrat saved him."

"He did!"

"There is no such thing as merfolk," continued Gilbert bringing an arm around Matthew, completely ignoring the annoyed glare his brother was sending him. "It's just a bunch of nautical nonsense."

"It's not nonsense; a merboy really _did_ save me. They live down in the depths of the ocean, bruder."

"Yeah, whatever." He winked at Matthew and pointed at his brain with his index finger, twisting it in the universal 'he's-insane' motion.

"I can see you, Gilbert. I'm not crazy. I'm telling you the truth!" Ludwig tossed him another fish, this time actually making contact. The albino sputtered as the tuna squirmed in his grasp and slapped his face a few times before managing to jump back into the water. Gilbert looked at it in dismay before turning to glare once again at his brother. Ludwig huffed and continued to sort out the fish for that nights birthday feast.

The tuna sighed in relief when it was a few good feet away from the ship. He looked up and could vaguely see two figures wrestling. 'Humans', it thought, 'such strange creatures.' The tuna offered a moment of silence for his fallen brethren and prayed that some would be as lucky as him to be tossed at the strange human with red eyes. It seemed that he wasn't very good at catching which would increase their chances of survival. So long as they slap him about first. With those parting thoughts he made his way to deeper water to wait out the ship so that he wouldn't get caught in the fishing nets again. Perhaps he could go to Atlantica; wasn't there supposed to be a concert today? Thinking hard as to why King Robert would hold a concert so soon after the last one the tuna remembered. Ah yes! Today was the debut of Prince Arthur. With a smile he decided that yes, perhaps it would be for the best if he went to Atlantica after all.

And so, the tuna swam deeper into the dark fathoms below, where the beautiful blue of his surroundings turned darker. He swam past schools of other fishes, past fields of seaweed, only stopping momentarily for a bloom of jellyfish to cross. Pointing his nose downward he descended a trench where he waved hello to a blue whale friend of his and her daughter as they swam by him, the whale's eyes lighting up in joy. The tuna, suddenly felt himself being held delicately around his midriff, looked up and saw a smiling face look back down. He relaxed his fins, allowing himself to be carried the rest of the way to Atlantica by the merman and watched as other merfolk, women, children and men alike, flocked towards the underwater city.

Giggles caught the tuna's attention, making him turn his head around enough to see mermaids chasing each other and mermen racing to the mouth of a glowing cave. His 'ride' was one of the mermen partaking and with a wink as a sole warning, the tuna held on tightly as the merman increased his speed, his copper fin flicking violently, in effort to win the race. The tuna covered his eyes with his side fins in fear. A gentle tap not a moment later coaxed the tuna to uncover his eyes to reveal that he was already at the gates of Atlantica.

"I hope I didn't scare you too much Tuna-san. I'm afraid I allowed my siblings get the best of me but we did win," spoke the merman who had carried him. "Now if you excuse me, I must sit with my friend. Please do enjoy the concert. I hear it's going to be quite a performance."

Merfolk and sea creatures gathered around and found their seats in the royal concert hall. The tuna found his cousin amongst the members of the orchestra and waved. His cousin managed a wave back while balancing a coral shaped like a flute. Members of the audience settled down when seahorses, dressed in the royal tabard, aligned themselves next to Toris and blew into their horns.

Toris cleared his throat, "Introducing our host for the evening, the lord of the seven seas and sole wielder of the Trident, His Royal Highness, King Robert!" Mermen and mermaids alike stood on their tails to clap energetically for their king as he entered on a large shell chariot pulled by dolphins. He nodded at his subjects with a kind smile and waved the Trident to light the chandelier above them. The dolphins pulled his chariot onto the royal balcony before detaching themselves from the reigns and taking their leave. Toris cleared his throat again, "and now presenting the distinguished court composer, the illustrious, the talented Rodrich!"

Rodrich struggled to keep a hold of his dolphin drawn chariot but managed to keep them swimming at a steady pace. He waved politely at the audience giving him a standing ovation and kept an aloof face, though on the inside, he was grinning broadly and his ego was inflated beyond relief. The dolphins pulled him towards Robert so that the King could bless his baton

The redheaded merman grinned and smacked his friend on the back good naturedly, "Can't wait for tonight's performance, Roddy. My brother's said it's going to be amazing."

Rodrich shuffled through his composition, "Indeed. This is concert is going to be the finest one I've ever conducted. You're brothers will be fantast-woah!" He clutched his paper tightly with one hand while the other held on to the reigns of his rowdy dolphins. When he struggled to right himself, Rodrich felt Robert's large hands steady him. "Thank you, your majesty."

Robert laughed boisterously and settled in his seat. "No worries. I look forward to seeing my little brothers sing. Especially little Artie."

"Arthur does have a very lovely singing voice," said Rodrich as he ushered his dolphins to his post while muttering to himself, "if only he bothered to show up to rehearsal once in a while." The lights dimmed, with a sole spotlight on him. The audience marveled at how his dark purple tail reflected lavender in the light as he readied the orchestra. Tapping the end of his baton on the stand he raised his arms, the orchestra watching carefully before playing the notes off their music sheet.

Three large clams rose from under the stage when the curtain of bubbles pulled away. They opened soundlessly to reveal mermen, who smiled at the audience and broke into song, "Ah, we are the brothers of Robert; great brother who loves us and raised us well." They looked up at Robert who beamed with pride. "There's Christian," the oldest merman with a red-orange and white tail twirled out of his shell. "Kyle." A blond merman smiled shyly at the audience and also twirled out of the clam while vocalizing in the mist of his brothers powerful voices. "Murphy. Connor." Twin mermen held hands and circled around their second youngest brother. "David." The five brothers swam to the fourth clam that had risen higher than their own. The looked at the audience with mischievous smiles, "And then there is the youngest in his musical debut." Robert leaned over his seat in excitement. "Our seventh little brother, we're presenting him to you. To sing a song Rodrich wrote, his voice is like a bell. He's our brother, Arth-ah…hmm." The red-headed twins covered their mouths to hide a snigger while Kyle face palmed. Christian snorted and cast his brother Robert a look.

Rodrich snapped his baton in half from his annoyance. He knew it. He knew he should have locked the prince in that damn clam. He knew it! He looked up at the balcony and he knew that the king shared his feelings on the matter. Robert's eyes green eyes flared into an emerald, his Trident glowing dangerously in his hand, as he growled out his brother's name, "Arthur!"

* * *

Arthur peeked over a crevice and grinned when he saw the sunken ship. He knew he could find it without asking for directions. The prince chuckled as the sound of tired pants grew closer to him. "Come on, Feli. You're taking too long."

Feliciano dropped himself onto a rock and wiped his forehead. "I'm s-sorry. It's just that, this place is a bit scary...and you were swimming too fast.

"Oh come off it. You can swim faster than me. Also what you mean scary? We've been to hundreds of sunken ships, what makes this one so different," he asked while dragging his friend with him to get closer to the naval corpse. Arthur rolled his eyes at Feli's resistance.

"This one's deeper than the others. Not to mention its dark here. You know I don't like dark places," grumbled the brunette merman. "It's colder too."

"Well, if you don't like it, you could always just stay out here and watch for sharks." Arthur squeezed himself inside through a broken window.

Feli nodded happily until he realized what his friend had suggested. "Hey, wait!" He tried to squeeze inside as well but his hips where a bit wider than Arthur's so he got stuck. "Arthur! Arthur help me!

The prince turned around and sighed to himself, "Oh, Feli. Maybe you need to lay off that seaweed pasta your brother makes." He chuckled at the look of horror on his friend's face when he managed to pull him inside.

"But it's so delicious. It's as close to human pasta as I'm ever going to get." The two swam around the cabins inside the ship oblivious to the dark shadow that swam over them.

A silver glint caught Arthur's eyes and he rushed forward, "Feli look! Isn't it amazing?"

Feli looked up from a crystal hair brooch he found, "What is that?"

"I don't know but I bet that frog, Francis, will." They placed their findings in Feli's satchel and kept looking. Arthur was about to pick up a pipe when he heard Feli scream. "Bloody hell! What? What is…oh dear." He pulled a trembling Feli into his arms and swam back to the pipe. "Are you ok? They must not be much to look at without the-um, skin and stuff, huh?"

Nodding, Feli pulled his dark aqua colored tail up and leaned back, "Yeah. I hate seeing them when they're just bones." His amber eyes lit up, "Ludwig was very cute."

"I know. You've only told me a million times already. Hmm, look I found another ink splatter." He showed it to Feli who took it eagerly. Ink splatters were his favorite things to find. He loved how the colors would blend together to make landscapes or capture moments between people. The two mermen froze when they heard the ship groan.

"D-did you hear that? You heard that right?"

Arthur cocked his head and brushed a hand through his blond hair. "I think it was just the ship settling."

"But you said…you don't think there really are sharks around here do you? They weren't very happy when your brother told them to stop hunting merchildren." Feli paled when he heard another groan and pulled his satchel close to his body. "Arthur lets go. I think we found enough for today."

"Stop being a wanker. It took us forever to find this ship and I don't want to leave until we've found every last bit. I was just messing with you about the sharks. Robert exiled them to the North Pacific. We should be fine. Now come on, I want to see the captain's cabin. They always have good stuff."

Feli let out a sigh, the air coming out as tiny bubbles and followed his friend. He stopped halfway, the scales on his tail tingling in warning. "Arthur," he called softly. His multicolored-gradient fin flicked anxiously when he saw a dangerous shadow on the wall of the room. "Arthur," he called a bit louder. Bracing himself with all the courage he could muster at the moment, Feli turned around to look out the window. Sure enough, "SHARK! Arthur! Shark!" He swam backwards and bumped into Arthur.

The great white smirked and smashed through the window, only to turn into a merman upon entering. The merman had a pale blue tail with white and silver stripes. His black hair was pulled back into a braid as he circled the two frightened mermen. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? The young prince and his little boyfriend out for a swim? A bit far from home aren't we, Prince Arthur?"

Arthur scowled, "Feli isn't my boyfriend. And even if he was what's it to you, Damien? What are you doing here anyway? I thought Robert had you and your brothers banished for stirring up trouble."

Damien shrugged, "He did but the little ones are hungry so I went out to hunt. Being sealed of our magic did have its repercussions but…" he body convulsed and his mouth became bloody as his teeth grew in size, quantity, and shape. A great white stared down the two mermen hungrily, "We can still do this!" He lunged towards Feli but Arthur pulled him away, shoving a table into Damien's open mouth. The great white had no trouble biting through it however. Spitting out the shards of wood he turned angrily towards his prey as they tried to escape through the small window they entered from.

"I don't care how good it tastes, Feli. When we get out of this you're going on a bloody diet!" Arthur backed up before forcing his tail to propel water as fast and as hard as it could to push him towards Feli's struggling body. With a pop, he managed to push his body through. He followed after him, only returning for the satchel. He watched as Damien made a bee line for him.

Breaking through the wall of the ship, the great white swam faster to catch up to his lunch. When Feli felt the tip of his fin enter Damien's mouth, he turned around and lifted his tail out just as the shark closed his mouth. With wide eyes, Feli turned his head around to look for Arthur but instead became acquainted with the mast of the ship he had just been in.

Arthur looked behind him to see if Damien was still following him but gasped when he saw that the merman was trailing after Feli's dazed body. Dropping the satchel he raced to catch him through the noose of an anchor. With Feli in his arms, he smirked. "Arthur, pull me through! What are you waiting for?!"

"Not yet, Feli. Trust me." Feli groaned in fear, his arms tightening around his friend's neck. They watched as an angry Damien smiled cruelly, his large body moving straight towards now. "Ready, Feli? And NOW!" He pulled the trembling merman through and swam away, after picking up his satchel of course, ignoring Damien's roars of anger and desperate thrashes in attempt to dislodge his head from the anchor.

* * *

Francis lounged on a rock while singing to himself and staring into a mirror with a sense of longing. He weaved a sea star into his golden locks and fixed the beaded cuff around his bicep. "Look at you sexy devil you," he said huskily. "Honhonhon, but I am, mon cher." The vain merman chuckled and ran a hand down his silver tail. He marveled at the baby blue scales that ran down the sides and onto the sides of his fin where it fanned out into a silver gradient. He reached around to lazily scratch at the black rose shaped mark on his lower back.

"Oi, Francis," called out Arthur, waving to get his attention.

The blond merman jumped and in his surprise he dropped the mirror he had been looking into, "Oh non! My mirror!" He was about to jump in after it but Feli popped up from the water and handed it over with a cheerful smile. Francis took it and eyed the brunet lecherously, "Ah, Feli. The only one who is _almost _as beautiful as moi. How are you this fine day, mon cher?"

Feli, oblivious to the hunger in his friend's eyes, brought out the satchel Arthur had handed to him after their escape. The prince rolled his eyes and emptied the contents onto the rock, "We need you to tell us what we found."

"Yeah," cried Feli excitedly, "We went into this sunken ship Arthur found. It was really scary and-"

Francis looked at the objects with interest, all sense of teasing aside for the moment. "Human stuff, eh? Let's take a look," he slid down on the rock belly down with his tail over his body, the tip fanning out and poking Feli in the eye. Arthur frowned but kept his comments to himself. It was difficult to get his idiotic friend to focus long enough to explain the purpose of the goods they would bring and, if he became focused on his own accord, he wouldn't press his luck by distracting him. He watched as he picked up the fork, "This, mon amis, is special."

"What? What is it?" Feli smiled at his friend as his foul mood turned positive. Arthur clutched at the rock and looked at Francis with childish wonder.

Francis patted the blonde's head. "This is a dinglehopper. You see, human women, or men with gorgeous hair, run this baby through their hair like this," he demonstrated by running it through his own hair. "Then you twist it like so and pull." He winced as he did so, eyes widening when a clump of hair came along with it. At the looks of surprise exchanged between Arthur and Feli, Francis waved their fears away, "Uh-it-it's supposed to do that. Humans do this every once in a while to pull the bad hair out in order for prettier softer hair to take its place. Want to feel?"

Arthur shook his head while Feli reached out to pet Francis's hair. The prince took the fork back and examined it. "A dinglehopper," he murmured before putting back into his satchel. "What about that one?" He pointed to the pipe.

The older blond pulled his head away from Feli's gentle hands and took the pipe. "Now this is something I haven't seen in years. C'est fantastique ! Back in prehistoric times, humans would sit around," he pressed his face closer to Arthur so that the prince could see the clear blue in his eyes, "and stare at one another all day. It got very boring." He moved back and toyed with the pipe, "So the humans invented this, the bulbus snarfblatt in order to play music for entertainment. Allow me to demonstrate." Francis brought the pipe to his mouth and blew hard into it, making his cheeks go purple. Seaweed and muck spewed out of the opening of the pipe from the pressure and the merman sputtered in disgust.

"Music? That doesn't sound like any…music…music! The concert!" Arthur grabbed at his belongings, packing them back into his satchel. "Feli why didn't you remind me? My brother's going to kill me!"

Feli turned away from the chocking Francis and furrowed his brow in confusion, "The concert was today? I could've sworn Lovi told me it was going to be tomorrow."

Arthur sighed and took the snarfblatt from Francis, "It wouldn't surprise me if he lied to you just to spite Rodrich. Thank you, Francis. We'll see you around soon. Come on, Feli!" He waved good bye and dragged Feli back home.

"Any time, mon chers," called Francis, "Anytime!" When his stomach growled he patted it fondly, "Don't worry, mon ami. You'll get food soon enough." He sat up focused. White feathers sprouted onto his body as he shrunk in size. Testing out his wings, Francis released a pleased squawk and flew away.

As the prince and his friend dashed back home, they were unaware of two mermaids watching them from afar. They pressed their cheeks together and removed their eye patches to reveal a glowing violet eye each. In a cave a few miles from them, a merman with a black tail sat in a crevice, eating live shrimp. With closed eyes he watched as Arthur fretted as he and an unknown brunet, his friend perhaps, made their way home, "Da, hurry home little, Arthur. Wouldn't want to miss Big Brother Robert's celebration." The visual went away when Ivan opened his mismatched eyes and ate another shrimp, reveling in how it released a pained squeal as he chewed down slowly. "Celebration," he frowned, "celebrating what exactly? More like flaunting his power and wealth while is idiotic subjects bask in his and his family's glory." He slid out of his crevice, disheveled fin swishing back and forth to slow his decent, "Must be nice to live in such a warm place with an abundant food supply while I and my sisters live in this wretched hell hole, wasting away to practically nothing. Banished and exiled," he growled angrily, "we're practically starving." He heard his sister's whimper inside his head from afar, no doubt worried about him and his sudden spike in frustration. A downside to having traded eyes with them, they could feel each others emotions. No matter. It was a small price to pay to be able to have eyes out there while he stayed in here. Speaking of which, "Natasha. Natalya. Keep a close watch on our little prince."

The two mermaids nodded and followed after the pair of friends. Their brother chuckled darkly, "If memory serves me right, little Arthur has always been Robert's favorite brother. He may just be the key to the King's undoing."

* * *

"Irresponsible! Reckless! Carless!" Arthur flinched with every word his brother threw at him, wishing nothing more that Feli could be next to him for moral support. Then again, he discreetly looked to his side where the brunette was being chewed out by his own brother. "Are you listening to me, Arthur?!"

The prince sighed and nodded, "I am, Robert. I'm sorry, I lost track of time and, well, to be honest I completely forgot about the concert."

At this Rodrich, who had been silently fuming beside his king, lost it. "Forgot? Forgot?! This was _your _musical debut and you forgot? Not only did I write this song especially for you but this concert was meant to be the highlight of my musical career and now I'm the laughing stock of the entire kingdom!"

Feli heard this and escaped from his brother's choke hold. He swam up to the ranting mermen, "But it wasn't his fault!" Backing up with widening eyes when Robert narrowed his emerald orbs at the two teens he and his friends practically raised as their own, Feli tried to explain. Lovino swam over to hover next to Robert on his left with his arms crossed. "Uh, um, well you see…there was this shark and he was all ROAR!" The older mermen exchanged exasperated glances, Robert leaning his head on his fist while Rodrich massaged the bridge of his nose. Feli, oblivious once again to the mood continued his rant. "And then Artie was like, 'you need to go on a diet, Feli' but I don't really want to cause I really like your seaweed pasta, Lovi. I don't really have to, do I? Oh no! Am I really fat?"

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "No you git, I was just teasing. And the second time it was just something I said in the moment. We _did_ have a deranged shark coming after us."

The curl on the side of Feli's head curled into a heart, "Ve~Really? Yay! I really like seaweed pasta and I wasn't sure if I could keep up with the diet if I had to go on it. Anyway," he turned back to Robert, "Then Francis came by and he was telling us about how this is this and that is that and then he said I was pretty!"

Lovi and Robert snarled at the same time, though perhaps their reasoning where different. Lovi shouted first, "You went to see that pervert? I thought I told you to stay away from that self-absorbed bastard?" He reached out to choke his brother again but he let out a squeal. Flicking his olive green tail forward he saw the source of his pain. A turtle had the tip of his fin firmly in between its lips. "Let go you little bastard! Damn it, I said let go." He swished his tail back and forth quickly but the turtle only clamped his mouth harder. Rodrich rolled his eyes and gently coaxed the tail out of the turtle's mouth. He handed over the creature to a fuming Lovi. "I swear if Antonio didn't have a passion for turtles, I would've cooked you in a gumbo by now." He muttered to himself about stupid turtle loving bastards disappearing for ten years and saddling their stupid pet on him while going back to the kitchen.

Arthur was about to take this moment to escape with Feli to their special place but Robert held him in place. "Francis, huh? And where did you two see him? Because last time I checked that fool had a preference for living on the surface when he found out that he could make himself look like a damn bird!"

Arthur groaned to himself, "Nothing happened."

"But it could've," argued Robert getting up from his throne. "Arthur, how many times do I have to tell you _not_ to go to the surface? I acknowledge that I can't force others to obey that law but you, _you _are prince. _You_ have to obey them." He forced his brother to meet his eyes, "what would you have done if you or Feli were seen by one of those damn humans. One of those barbarians?!"

Arthur narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "Robert, they _aren't_ barbarians."

"They're _dangerous_, Arthur! Do you think I want to see my baby brother ensnared b-by some fish eater's hook?"

The prince backed away from his brother's hold and furrowed his bushy eyebrows in anger, "I'm hardly a child anymore, Robert. I'm 18 now, an adult by any standards. Human or merfolk."

Robert blinked in surprise before fisting his hands, his fin wriggling with frustration, "Do _not_ take that tone with me, young man. You technically may be an adult but you are still under my care and while you live under my ocean you will live by my rules."

The prince's own tail was twitching with agitation, "But, big brother, if you just listen to-"

"I don't want to hear another word from you, Arthur. And I don't ever want to hear that you and Feliciano have gone to the surface again is that clear? I said, is that clear?!" The two siblings matched each others glare but the older won when his little brother's lip began to quiver. With a frustrated grunt, Arthur reached out for Feli's arm and dragged him away.

He swam past his other brothers who were hiding behind pillars. They gave him a disapproving glare. "Bugger off, I don't want to deal you wankers," muttered Arthur, "Come on, Feli."

Christian shooed his younger brothers back to their room as he swam towards his big brother. Robert sat miserably on his throne with Rodrich at his side. "Robert?"

The king looked at his younger brother as the strawberry blond merman curled his tail underneath him. "What is it?"

"Don't you think you were too hard on him? Despite what he says or may think he _is_ only a kid after all."

Robert's face saddened some more, "I was just thinking that myself. Did you see how his lip was quivering?" He released a sigh, "Well, at least he didn't cry this time."

Rodrich snorted, "Please, your majesty. Don't be too hard on yourself. Did you even see how Lovino reacted? Now _that_ is being hard on a sibling. At least you didn't choke the prince. Besides teenagers these days are way too wild. I remember back in our day, our parents would keep up on a tight leash and wouldn't budge no matter how badly we wanted a bit more freedom. As I always say, give in an inch and they'll swim all over you. Why if Arthur were my brother I'd show him who was boss; none of this flitting to the surface and other such nonsense. I'd keep that boy, hell both boys on tight control." He crossed his arms over his chest and sniffed, perhaps he'd help Lovi out with Feli. After all, he was his charge as well. And if it hadn't been for that wayward curled merman, Arthur wouldn't have…no. Even he couldn't complete that sentence. Arthur would've eventually found a passion for surface trinkets and…those fish eaters. He was Arthur after all.

Robert and Christian exchanged smiles and glanced at Rodrich coyly. Christian crossed his arms on top of his brother's head and leaned forward, tail curled over his body, the fin flipping lazily back and forth. Robert allowed this and poked at his friend, "You know you're absolutely right, Rodrich."

"Of course I am," said the black haired man, chest puffing out in pride.

"Arthur needs constant supervision."

"_Constan_t supervision."

"Someone to always keep tabs on him."

"Always."

"Someone who will make sure he and Feli will stay out of trouble."

"All the time."

Robert grinned, "And you are just the person to do it."

"Of course I-wait what?" Rodrich frowned when the royal brothers laughed at how easily Robert persuaded him to be Arthur's baby sitter. No persuaded was too kind of a word; he was tricked. Conned! "B-But your majesty I-"

"Are perfect for the position, you know him best and you practically raised Feli. Who better to be his shadow than their favorite composer, eh Roddy?" Robert poked him in the stomach to emphasize his point, making Rodrich's chest deflate in resignation.

Knowing better than to argue against the king, friend or not, he nodded solemnly. "Of course, your majesty."

* * *

**Working on the third chapter as we speak. I'd like to thank everyone whose following this story and added it to their favorites. I look forward to you guys's company for this story ^_^ Oh, I also wanted to add this. I chose England as Ariel mainly because I wanted something different from the fan art but also because of all those siblings he has. It works, right?  
**

**Guest: Thank you for the review. Honestly, I'm very happy to have gotten your review. It was actually kinda crushing my spirit when I checked the stats on it that no one seemed interested. This goes to everyone who's favorited and is following and left me reviews. It really motivates me more to write faster to get these updates to y'all.**

**VivaAmerica: Thank you so much for the review ^_^ As always it made my day!  
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**zoewinter1: I wish I could tell you when but yes he will =3 (although I want to see if you can figure out when ;3)  
**

**Fallen heavens: lol I can feel the love ^.^**

**spiritualnekohime4: I hope I answered your question with this chapter. I'm very happy to hear you like it =3**

**HeroinOfDarkness: ****Thank you! ^.^**


	3. Part Of Your World

**I was listening to two male versions of part of your world on youtube while writing those scenes. If you want you could listen while you read when the time comes. I really love how they sound I personally think it adds to the mood. **

**For the first part I typed in youtube: part of you world male version and clicked on the first one which should be by jonmaxgoh**

**For the reprise I typed in youtube: part of your world male reprise and clicked on the first one which should be by khcodesrikurawks **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

The two royal siblings watched as their court composer sauntered grumpily away, probably to look for his new charge. Christian began to swim back towards their living quarters, "You coming, Bobby? Murphy wanted to talk to you about something."

The king cocked his head in question, "Any idea what it's about? He doesn't want me to get him a new seahorse does he?"

"Would that be so bad?"

"Damn it, Chris. That'd be his third mount this year. Tell him he's not getting another until he learns how to tie a bloody knot. And he's going to have to show me that he knows how to because I'm getting tired of buying new seahorses cause he keeps forgetting to secure them in the stable."

Christian smirked, "Whatever you say, brother." He was going to go bet ten clams with Kyle that Robert would cave by dinner and buy their brother a new mount. He always did spoil them. "Where are you going?"

Running a hand through his red locks, Robert turned away. "It's been a while since I've done some work around here. I'm going to the Pantheon and cook up a storm before dinner."

"Another? But you just made on this morning." Robert ignored him and continued on his way.

* * *

Rodrich grumbled to himself in annoyance. Of all the things he could be doing, why did he have to follow around a couple of headstrong teenagers? And why for the love of jellyfish did he allow himself to be suckered into the role of baby sitter without putting up a fight? He should be writing sympathies! Not searching for these-hey! Rodrich frowned when he saw his two charges sneaking out of the kingdom with a suspicious looking parcel in Arthur's hands. "Why those rotten little…just where on earth do they think they're going," he muttered to himself. Quickly as he could, and stealthily as he could, Rodrich followed closely behind Arthur and Feli as the pair swam quickly to a well hidden cavern.

Arthur paused and looked around before pushing aside a bolder to reveal the mouth of the cave. He motioned for Feli to enter with the satchel and moved to push back the bolder. Rodrich gasped and swam as fast as his fin allowed him but the opening had decreased in size and he there was no way he could squeeze inside. With a sigh he closed his eyes and focused what little was left of his magical ability to shrink his body down. His skin hardened, turning into a royal blue, as appendages sprouted from his sides. Now a blue crab he squeezed inside, struggling to get his claw through, he managed after a strong tug. Running his claw over his antennas to smooth out his appearance he lifted one over his head delicately to camouflage himself as a normal crab. Right. Because everyone knows crabs walk like they aristocrats. He dropped the act when he bumped into an hourglass. "Stupid…things in my wa-" his words died when he opened his eyes to see what he had run into. His body shifted back into that of a merman in his shock. "My word," he whispered to himself as he took in the cavern and all its treasures with wide eyes. Well, to him it was junk but still.

Feli sat the satchel next to the rock Arthur had thrown himself over and quietly approached his friend, "Arthur, are you ok? I'm sorry about blabbering about seeing Francis. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

The young prince sighed and shook his head, "No, don't worry about it. He would've yelled at me about that sooner or later. Guess it was for the best to just get it out of the way." He toyed with the pipe, "I don't get it, Feli. He says that humans are dangerous, that they'll kill us on sight but you're human and his father didn't do that. I know that a few may have harmed sea creatures but that shouldn't be used as an excuse to accuse _every_ human. That's like saying all merfolk with magic are dangerous just because of some of them did bad things with their powers. And if he really did believe things worked like that, then why didn't he get rid of your brother, Rodrich, and me?"

Moon light entered the cavern from a small opening above them making the silver reflect off of Arthur's ruby scales. Feli sat down on the cool ground, curling his tail around him and drew shapes in the sand. "I don't know, Arthur. But…you know, sometimes I think I never should've told you about the surface. Maybe then you wouldn't always be getting into trouble."

"Don't say that, Feli. Knowing me, I would've probably found out about it myself. It just wouldn't be as fun without you. Trident knows my brothers wouldn't have bothered with me and this strange hobby of mine." Arthur and Feli shared a giggle at that while Rodrich kept his eyes trained at all the things lining the shelf like walls inside the cave, his jaw dropping as he realized what they said. Hobby? Just how long have they been doing this 'hobby'?

Feli watched his scales changed colors in the light, his middle golden scales reflecting beautifully against the pale moonlight, while Arthur pulled out the fork. "Feli?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think there's something wrong with me," asked Arthur sadly. "I know I can be…rough around the edges but..."

When he stopped talking, Feli floated up a bit so that he was looking at his friend upside down, "I think you're a strange merman but I like that about you," he said cheerfully. " You're different from everyone else and that's ok. There's nothing wrong with having a different way of thinking or wanting different things than what is expected of you." He stretched Arthur's cheeks with his tongue sticking out and made his eyes cross; making the face that he knew always cheered the prince up.

Arthur rolled his eyes but smiled and lightly shoved his friend's tanned hands away from his face. He looked at the 'dinglehopper' in his hands and sighed again, "I wish my brother were more like you. Maybe then he'd understand. I just don't see things the way he does. I don't see how a world that can make such wonderful things," he looked at Feli, "Could be bad?"

Rodrich shrunk back into a crab to get closer. As he maneuvered his way through all the, junk as he saw it, he fell into a pile of unsorted goods. Not paying much attention the sound of things falling, the two teen mermen where quite used to that happening, Arthur placed the dinglehopper into a candelabra he found a few years ago, "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the guy, the guy who has everything?" He sat up and looked at the walls lined with things they've found. "Look at this trove, treasures untold. How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you'd think, 'sure, he's got everything.'"

Swimming upward he played with a few compasses and pocket watches he and Feli hung on hooks, "I've gadgets and gizmos a plenty. I've got whozits and whatzits galore." He swam past Rodrich, completely oblivious to his presence. Picking up a shelled box similar to Feli's only larger he showed it to his friend, "You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty." Sighing he put it away, "But who cares? No big deal. I want more." The opening shone light on his favorite item in the entire cave. He swam towards it and leaned against the perch that served as the resting place for the dancing pair figurine Feli had given them as children. He made the couple dance with a longing gaze, "I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing. Walking around on those-what do you call 'em?" Feli smiled and pointed to his wiggling fin making Arthur chuckle with a nod, "Oh, feet."

The blond prince laid on his back and lazily moved his tail, "Flipping your fins you don't get too far; legs are required for jumping, dancing." Jumping up, he looped his arm through Feli's and the pair pretended that they were walking, "Strolling along down a-what's that word again?"

Feli shrugged and offered, "Street?"

Rodrich 'humphed' in annoyance but Arthur nodded once again in agreement. Lacing his fingers through Feli's, he twirled them upward, towards the small opening in their cavern, "Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun. Wandering free, wish I could be part of that world."

The elder merman was beginning to feel ill. Did the prince really want to do something so-so…insane! As if to answer his unspoken question, Arthur's sweet voice voiced his deepest desire as he descended back to the ground on his back. "What would I give if I could live out of these waters?" Rodrich's jaw dropped. Feeling woozy, he leaned back against a table, jumping when it made a surprisingly pleasing sound. Curious he pressed down on the ivory and black keys, eliciting cheerful notes.

"What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand," sang Arthur, stretching out on the cool dark sand. He watched Feli do the same next to him, his amber eyes dozing off due to his friend's melodic voice. But Arthur wasn't done. Nudging his friend awake again, he laid on his side with his head on his fist, "Bet'cha on land, they'd understand. That they don't reprimand their brothers. Bright young gentlemen, who are sick of swimming." He met Feli's eyes with determination before taking his friend's hand in his again to lift them back up, "We're ready to stand!"

Arthur's determination and excitement was contagious to Feli and the brunet was wide awake once again. He pulled out a book from their makeshift library, a cook book that showed all kinds of human pasta. He pointed to the one he remembered Ludwig's father offering him and his grandfather, "And we're ready to know what the people know. Ask 'em our questions and get some answers."

The prince nodded in approval and swam to an Ink Splatter that was his and Feli's favorite. It depicted a woman sitting at a desk with a skull in her lap. Her face looked guilty but it was hard to tell due to her head being turned away. But the part that really intrigued them was the candle. Arthur ran his fingers down the painted glow, "Like what's a fire and why does it, what's the word," closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against the painting in thought, "Burn!" He grinned, happy that he remembered, "When's it our turn?" Arthur once again swam towards the opening above their cavern, "Wouldn't I love," he stretched his arm above him, fingers extended towards the moonlight; he was desperately pretending that the surface was just outside and he could touch it, "love to explore that shore up above?" But, at last, it wasn't. Feli watched sadly as his friend came back down, his tail and fin moving on their own accord to slow down his descent. "Out of the sea." Was Arthur crying? "Wish I could be," Arthur looked up longingly through his fringe, "part of that world."

Feli sat next to him and pulled him into a hug, "Don't worry, Artie. One day. One day, we'll get you get up there."

Rodrich, preoccupied with his new discovery, managed to overhear what the little brunet said and his claw got caught on a latch, making the piano collapse on itself. He let out a startled yelp and fell back onto the unsorted pile with a loud crash. The two mermen pulled away from each other in surprise and looked as an angry merman, he having changed back from his borderline hysteria at his charges nonsense, staring at them. Despite the seriousness of being discovered, Feli and Arthur started to laugh at Rodrich. His violet eyes seeming larger due to a pair of spectacles he had somehow managed to stumble upon. The elder merman turned red with agitation but tried to calm down by taking a few deep breaths.

Arthur was the first to calm his chuckles, "I-I'm sorry Rodrich. It's just you look positively ridiculous with those things on. Don't you know? They're supposed to go on-"

"I don't care where they're supposed to go, why do you have them to begin with," cried Rodrich as he removed the spectacles, frowning when he realized that his vision had appeared sharper with them on. "What _is_ all this junk anyway?"

"Um," the prince lightly tugged at his own arm, "it's…uh, it's my collection. Well, ours," he motioned to Feli and himself. "But Feli has his really special stuff in that corner over there so that it doesn't mix with mine. He's picky about what he collects. Not me though, I like it all." Arthur stopped with a blush, realizing that he was saying too much. And to Rodrich of all merfolk.

Rodrich, however, nodded. Putting the glasses back on he took a pace back, "I see, you collection." He grunted when he realized that he still twine wrapped around his fin, he moved to pull it off along with the diamond tiara and pearls on his head sputtering, "If your brother knew about this place-"

"You aren't going to tell him are you, big brother," cried Feli, rushing to tug at Rodrich's arm. Rodrich grunted when Arthur tugged at his other arm.

"Oh, please don't tell Robert, Rodrich," pleaded the prince, his green eyes begging. "He'll never understand. This place is very special to Feli and me and if you tell him, I don't know what he'll do."

The elder merman sighed. They were tugging at his heart strings by calling him big brother, a guilty pleasure he swore never to tell anyone, though he suspected Lovi and Robert knew. Rodrich's face softened and he patted both teens on their head. "Ok, fine. I won't tell." He smiled at Arthur and pulled them both towards the mouth of the cave, "I understand that you're under a lot of pressure, Arthur. Maybe it was too soon to introduce your voice to Atlantica. Let's get you both home and I'll tell Lovi to make you something warm and sweet to drink, ok?"

Feli noticed a shadow come over them as they exited the cave. Looking up, his jaw dropped and he nudged at his friend. Arthur followed Feli's gaze upward and his eyes widened. Pulling away from Rodrich, he grabbed his friend's hand and together they dashed towards the surface.

Rodrich felt them pull away, "Hey, come back here! Where are you going? Arthur? Feli!"

Popping out of the water, Arthur brushed his fringe back and gasped. His eyes glittered with excitement when he saw blue, red, white, pink sparkles light up the sky, "Look, Feli! Fire flowers!"

"Ve~ I never thought we'd actually get to see them in person," marveled Feli. He zoomed in on the ship where lively music and laughter could be heard. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Artie?"

Rodrich chose that time to surface as well, "What do you two think you're doing? You can't just go with out-" He jumped as another firework exploded above them, "Jumping jelly fish," he cried. The two teens took advantage of the distraction and raced towards the ship. "Arthur! Feli! Don't go over there! Please, come back!"

The ship was in top condition; Not a single barnacle on its belly nor any sign of algae. Arthur marveled at how clean this ship was in comparison to all the ones he and Feli had explored. Though, that was to be expected. This one hadn't spent time under the sea like its brethren. Enthralled by the sound of laughter and music, the blond climbed along the side, finding a spot where he could comfortably sit. He peeked through an opening and smiled to himself. Men were dancing with each other to the music of an accordion. All of them were dressed in blue and white striped shirts with red bandana's tied securely around their necks, some even wore hats. A furry creature was skipping around the deck meowing loudly and cheerfully as if it were singing along with the tune.

Feli panted and sat weakly across from his prince, taking a moment to catch his breath before he too peered through the opening. His eyes immediately fell on a lone blonde sitting by himself on a barrel with a brooding expression on his gorgeous face. Feli felt his breath hitch in his throat, 'I've seen him before.' Looking closely he noticed a very important detail hanging around his neck that made his heart beat faster and a blush form on his cheeks. Ludwig?

Arthur, oblivious to his friend's love struck behavior, felt his eyes zoom in on a very handsome blond playing a snarfblatt. He was dancing around another blond that looked remarkably a lot like him, brother perhaps, save his hair had a peculiar curl and he was dancing with a very pale, red eyed man. The blond with the snarfblatt playfully bucked his hips to the side, pushing his brother a lot closer to his dance partner. Matthew blushed while Gilbert simply grinned and brought his arm tighter around his waist, twirling him around.

Alfred laughed happily before bring his flute to his lips to play some more and allowed Max to jump onto his head so that the two could dance. This made Arthur's smile broaden, that is until the creature caught sight of them and ran right towards the two mermen. The cat sniffed at Arthur's face, his blue feline eyes furrowing in confusion. No doubt it thought something along the lines of, 'It smells like food but looks like my master.'

"Max," called Alfred. "Come away from there, you silly kitty. I know you're a hero like me but let's not test our luck." Max gave Arthur's cheek a lick, making the prince giggle at the scratchy texture, and ran back to his master. Arthur watched as the blue eyed blond reached down to pet his cat with an affectionate smile, his own heart beginning to beat rapidly at the sight. He knew all humans couldn't be so bad. And this one…well this one seemed so perfect.

Arthur and Feli sighed in pleasure as the leaned their heads on their arms while watching the two men they were pining after. Neither noticed a white bird flying alongside the ship until it started to shout at them. "Bounjour mes amors," cried Francis, his blue beady eyes glittering with mischief. "What are beautiful creatures such as your selves doing on the side of this boat? Enjoying the show?!"

The blond prince hissed in annoyance, swinging his arm to get the bird to shut up, "Quiet, Frog! You'll get us spotted."

Francis landed in between their tails and nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. I got ya, we're being intrepidaceous." He extended his wings out happily and shouted, "We're out to discover!"

Before Arthur could swat at the bird, Feli took him onto his own lap and gently patted his head, "Please don't be so loud, Francis. Just sit here and watch with us." Francis settled down and cooed as the brunette continued to pet him.

Arthur nodded and turned back to look at Alfred, a smile forming once again on his face, "I've never been this close to a human before. Well, a live one with skin and hair and…oh," he sighed, resting his head on his arm and looking at the blond longingly again, "He's very handsome, isn't he?"

Feli tore his gaze from Ludwig too look at who Arthur was looking at. He wrinkled his nose, "I don't know, Arthur. Isn't he a bit hairy and…short? He's not even walking right, he's on all fours and licking…I don't even want to know what he's licking."

Arthur giggled when he realized that he was talking about the cat and shook his head, "Not that one you git." Gently taking Feli's chin into his hand he maneuvered it around so that he could see Alfred, "The one playing the snarfblatt." Feli nodded in approval. The three mermen sat back and continued to watch the festivities, ignoring the desperate pleas from Rodrich below them.

Matthew gently stepped away from Gilbert, a happy glow on his face from all the dancing, "I think I-I need a break, Gil. I'm getting thirsty."

The albino nodded to his partner and led him to a barrel so that he could sit down. "I'll be right back, Birdie." Gilbert skipped around the dancing crew and towards the keg of wine that was next to his still brooding brother. "Oh, come on, West. You aint still sore about the teasing from this morning are ya?"

"You said that I was crazy," muttered Ludwig while crossing his arms. He absolutely refused to acknowledge that he was pouting. It wasn't a manly thing to do after all. The blond felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and he rose his baby blue eyes to meet his brother's red.

"Listen, _I_ may think that merfolk is nothing a bunch of hoo-ha but Vati believed in it. Hell, he still goes on about how you and him were friends with a couple of merfolk. I don't buy it but hey whatever floats your boat."

"Are you trying to make me feel better, bruder? Because even I can tell you that you're going about it the wrong way."

Taking out a few wine glasses from the case, Gilbert shrugged as he filled them with wine, "What I'm _trying_ to say is, don't live in the past or a fantasy. You can't keep pining over a creature who, if he did exist, I'm not saying he did, but _if_ he did or does, would not be able to be a part of your life. The dude's a merman. Key syllable 'mer' as in the sea or whatever. He has to stay in the water right? How would you two even be together?"

Ludwig looked away and felt even worse than on the day his father told him that they were going to leave their seaside summer home. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to his wayward curled merboy friend. It was almost as bad as when they would return every summer and he and his father would sit by the dock waiting for Feli and his grandfather to come…but they never did. And now, Gilbert had to go and ruin his plans of one day finding the merman and confessing his love for him. He glared at the beer in his hand. Stupid dream crushing brothers.

"Now don't go blaming your love life, or lack of, on me, West," said Gilbert, interrupting his brother's pity party. "I didn't tell you to fall in love with an imaginary friend."

"Shut up, East," muttered Ludwig as he stood up and drowned the last of his beer. "Let's go get those presents, Vati made us sneak aboard."

"Ok, let me just get this wine to my Birdie."

"Talk about pining over someone impossible."

"Hey! It's not impossible. I know, Matthew will see my awesomeness one day." Gilbert stuck his tongue out at his brother and Ludwig fought the urge to do the same. Oh hell, why not? He returned the gesture before heading down to retrieve the gifts his father arranged for the two princes.

When Ludwig and Gilbert returned, they were dragging two large objects covered in a cloth. "Ok, guys, shut up for a sec, will ya," shouted the albino. "Kesesese~ Settle down, guys. Ok, now I have no idea what these things are but they're from our old man so I have no guarantee that they'll be awesome."

Matthew giggled at that while his brother snorted, "That old timer, he shouldn't have." Despite his words, Alfred couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement at getting a present. He rushed over to Ludwig, "The biggest is mine, right? Of course it is. I'm the hero and first born!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes at his friend but nodded, "Ja, the biggest is yours."

"Oh boy!" Arthur chuckled and blushed when he saw Alfred's breathtaking smile. Matthew shyly went up to Gilbert's box and took a corner of the sheet. "Ok, Mattie, on three. Ready? One, two, three!" The twins pulled at their respected sheets to reveal their gifts as their crew shouted out 'happy birthday'.

"MAPLE LEAF," cried Matthew in excitement, "Is this really for me? Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He jumped onto Gilbert and hugged him tightly when he saw what his gift was. The albino, shocked at first, turned red but returned the hug tightly. He sent a happy wink to his brother and raised his eyebrows to say 'see, I told you he'd see my awesomeness'.

Ludwig rolled his eyes again but smiled anyway, glad that his brother and prince was happy. Well, one of his princes. Alfred had a look of confusion on his face, "Um, gee, Luddy. I don't know what to say. Thanks I guess, it's…it's really something." He took a step back to see that his gift was a statue in himself, and though he was posing very heroically, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. His brother had gotten a pet bear for crying out loud. Why did he have to get something so…lame? Even Max looked unimpressed by the gift, choosing it to sharpen his claws on it instead of respecting it as a piece of art.

Arthur, however, couldn't help but gape at such a beautiful creation. Based on the look Alfred was giving it though, he didn't seem to share in his appreciation. And if that was the case, hell, he'd be more than happy to take it off his hands. Feli was staring at the polar bear now cradled like a baby in Matthew's hands. It was so cute! Not as cute as his Luddy of course. What he wouldn't give to just go up there and hug him senseless.

"You know this statue was a gift from my Vati. I personally wanted to get you a few new cannons for this ship but he insisted-." He paused when Alfred started to laugh at him.

"Sorry, dude, it's just 'vati' sounds like 'daddy'," whispered the prince.

Ludwig felt his cheeks redden. There was no way in hell he was going to confirm that 'vati' did mean daddy…perhaps he should use 'vater' from now on. Clearing his throat he continued where he left off, "He insisted that we bring it aboard should and present it to you as a wedding gift. He _had_ hoped we did."

Arthur gasped at the word wedding and leaned closer to hear more about it. He'd just seen this Alfred fellow, no way could he get married without him at least getting the chance to court him himself. It wasn't fair! Feli reached over and held his hand in comfort.

The prince snorted however, "Please. If you want me to get married, you guys, and your father, need to stop forcing girls on me. You know I don't swing on that vine."

Matthew looked up from his new pet and frowned at his brother, "Well, it's not as if it's all that easy to find you a suitable man, brother. All the men that we know of that could serve as a possible suitor are either taken or married."

'Not me!' Thought Arthur.

Alfred sighed and sat on the ledge of the ship, right over where Arthur and Feli were sitting, "I'm in no rush. I'm fine as I am right now and it's not like you can force me to marry someone I don't love."

"Why not Ludwig," offered Gilbert.

"What," cried both blonds in horror as Feli and Arthur cried 'No!'

"Kesese~ I was only teasing…sorta."

Ignoring his crush, Matthew continued addressing his brother, "Oh, Alfie, you know it's not that we want to force you into marriage. We just want you to settle down and be happy. The entire kingdom wants to see you happy."

Alfred smiled, "Thanks, Mattie, but don't worry so much about me. I'll find him. I'm sure he's out there somewhere."

"Perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough," said Ludwig. "I know _I _have," he whispered to himself.

"Come on Luddy, we've know each other since we were in diapers. You know that I'll find my other half."

"How can you be so sure the person you find is the one?"

"Believe me, man. When you find someone who's the one you'll know. When you see them, it hits you like lightning. Bam!" Alfred brought his fist to his palm and a sound of thunder pierced the air making Max hiss and the bear cub moan in fright. Lightening followed after, lighting the sky ominously.

"Verdammt, brother, I told you King Triton was real! He's probably pissed off you praised Fritz for his good humor and is stirring up this storm as punishment," cried Ludwig as he moved to cry out orders. "You, men, secure the riggin!" Alfred jumped to help out while Matthew ran towards the wheel, slipping once against the wet stairs, in attempt to steady the ship.

Arthur's face fell, "Perhaps big brother was angrier than I thought," he told Feli. The two mermen grasped at the ledge as the strong winds pushed the boat back and forth. Rain began to pour down, thoroughly soaking all who stood in its path. Waves became rowdy making Rodrich struggle to stay close to his charges.

The wind picked up Francis but his wings and lifting him out of Feli's lap. "Arthur! Feli," he cried out as the wind carried him away. Without giving the idea a second though, changed back into a merman, falling back into the water where he dove further down to where it was safe. "Please come down here, mon amis," he thought out loud. "It's not worth staying up there."

"Boys," shouted Rodrich, "Boy's come down from the-"his voice was drowned out by a wave crashing into him.

Feli and Arthur exchanged worried glances. Robert was _really _pissed off. They` looked through the opening and saw the crew scrambling about in panic to keep the ship steady. Max and the polar bear stood frozen near the statue in fear.

"They're going to be ok, right Feli," asked Arthur, feeling himself slip from his perch.

"I-I don't know, Artie," answered the brunette. Another wave rose over them, this time reaching the edge of the ship, dragging down the two mermen back to the sea but they rushed back up to the surface despite Rodrich's desperate pleas for them to go back home.

Matthew was knocked over but he quickly stood back up and gripped the wheel. Alfred rushing to help his brother keep it still. Ludwig and Gilbert exchanged panicked glances when they saw a lightning bolt hit the mast and its sails, igniting it in flames. The mermen gasped in horror. Fire. Wasn't fire supposed to light things and keep people warm?! This fire was going to hurt the people the care about! If that wasn't bad enough; their eyes widened when they saw that the ship was headed straight into rocks.

Gilbert tossed Matthew over his shoulder and tucked the polar bear cub under his arm before taking a running leap over this ship as it collided against the boulders, tossing everyone else overboard. Crew members pulled them into lifeboats as they all watched their ship burn. Alfred looked around the life boats and noticed someone was missing. Fearful meows drew his attention back to the ship. His eyes tearing up he cried out, "Max! Don't worry, boy, Daddy's coming for ya!" Without thinking twice, the Alfred jumped back into the water and swam towards the ship. "Daddy's coming, kitty. Daddy's coming," he shouted as he climbed back up.

Ludwig moved to jump after his charge but a strong hand kept him in place, "Let go of me, Gilbert! I need to help him!"

"No, West, you'll get yourself killed," argued Gilbert.

"He's my friend and my responsibility. I need to make sure he's safe; now, let go of me!" Shoving his hand aside, Ludwig went after Alfred. Matthew whimpered and held tightly to Gilbert as he and they everyone else watched the two blondes' board the flaming ship once again.

"Max," called Alfred upon locating his cat. "Come on boy, jump!" The feline did as it was told, jumping to his master's arms.

Alfred felt himself be pushed back. Looking back he saw Ludwig holding him firmly, "You should be more careful, idiot. Now come on before the ship blows," he said nodding fiery broken mast that had nearly landed on his charge. Near it was a barrel of gun powder and left over fireworks. "Let's move." Alfred nodded, picking holding his cat tightly in his arms, both he and Ludwig made a run for it.

Arthur and Feli held on to each other, their tails working overtime to keep above the surface and steady in the chaos that was the sea's surface. They watched as their loves ran in order to jump over board but as soon as they did the ship exploded. "BLOODY HELL," screamed Arthur. Max paddled towards the boat and pulled himself out of the water, moving immediately to cuddle against the bear cub's fur for warmth.

"No, Alfred," cried Matthew, hugging his bear tightly in his grasp. The crew members paddled towards shore, having nowhere else to go since the explosion pushed them in that direction and the waves were far too fierce to battle in mere life boats. "No, turn back! I order you to turn back!"

Gilbert held onto Matthew, "I'll look for them personally. But first we need to get you to safety, my prince."

'To hell with waiting,' thought Arthur, disentangling himself from Feli. "I'm going to look for him; you go see to that other guy!" Feli nodded and began to search for Ludwig.

Arthur looked through the debris desperate for signs of the beautiful human, known as Alfred. He couldn't let him die. A groan to his right alerted him to his whereabouts. He watched in horror as the human slipped from his life line, a piece of wood, and into the water. Diving after him, Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's broad chest and dragged him back to the surface. He leaned on his back in order to let Alfred's head rest on his chest to keep his head out of the water. It was a struggle but he eventually made it to the shore. Alfred shivered in his unconscious state. His boots were long gone, his pants torn and singed away so that they were more like shorts than anything. Arthur curled next to his body in order to keep him warm, "Please be ok," he whispered. "Please don't die." He closed his eyes over Alfred's heart, determined to stay with him through the night, or until one of his people found him.

Feli had struggled the most after he found Ludwig clinging unconsciously to a barrel of ale, whatever _that _was. He wasn't as built as Robert or Christian, but he could hold his own. Taking a firm hold of Ludwig, he swam towards the shore. The rain had calmed down to a very light drizzle by the time they reached the shore but Feli felt the need to keep his love as warm as possible. Thinking back from when he first saved Ludwig in their youth, the merman recalled his grandfather telling him that he had to give him the kiss of life. In other words, breath into them to stimulate their own breathing mechanism to work. Human biology wasn't like their own after all, their lungs couldn't handle water like his.

He took a few breaths to calm his nerves before settling over him and lowering his lips over Ludwig's. Feli breathed in a few times and pressed his hands against Ludwig's chest, "Please wake up, Luddy." He lowered his lips again and repeated the motion with his hands, "Come on, Ludwig!" Shutting his eyes tightly, he brought his lips over the blonde's only this time he felt a hand press his head closer. He opened his amber eyes to see that Ludwig was staring right back at him. Squeaking, Feli tried to pull away but found that he didn't really want to. Instead he leaned into the long awaited kiss.

"Did I die," croaked Ludwig after allowing Feli to pull away.

"I don't think so."

Feli watched as Ludwig closed his eyes again and smiled, "Gut. Let's take a nap, Feli." Well, it wasn't like the poor merman had a choice in the matter seeing as Ludwig brought his arms around his waist and held him tightly against his chest. And it certainly wasn't like Feli even _wanted_ to leave his long lost loves' embrace to begin with. He should probably go make sure Arthur and that other guy were ok but, and he felt slightly guilty for feeling this way, he couldn't bring himself to care. Arthur could hold his own and would be just fine without him. So, Feli snuggled against his blonde's strong chest, positioning his head over his heart. The beat was faint but it was still there. He'd make sure it stayed that way.

* * *

Morning came far too quickly for the two mermen. On Feli's end, he was woken up by the heat of the morning sun. Heat? Sun? Oh! Feli scrambled out of the warm embrace he had been kept in and looked down at a still sleeping Ludwig. Had his ear not been pressed against it, he would be sure that the blonde's heart had stopped beating. He looked far too peaceful for someone who had just been in an explosion, nearly drowned and slept on a beach in a drizzle.

Ludwig cracked his eyes open and saw a very familiar face with an even more familiar curl. It couldn't be, could it? Then that meant last night…cuddled…kiss…kiss! The blonde's chapped lips broke into a smile, "Are you really here with me, Feli?" Before the merman could answer he felt two strong arms wrap themselves around his torso and drag him back towards the ocean. "Feli? Feli! Don't leave me," cried Ludwig. He scrambled to get up in order to reach out and grab his merman's wrist but all he could reach was the blue seashell bracelet that he had pulled off as his lost love was dragged into the water. Sliding it onto his own wrist, he prepared to dive in after him but his brother reached out to grab him.

"Oi, West! You scared me to death, you crazy bastard," cried Gilbert as he hugged his brother tightly. "God, never do that again. If I didn't already have naturally white hair, I swear you would give me a whole headful."

"Did you see him, bruder?!"

"See who?"

"Feli! He was here, he saved me again. We kissed and he stayed the night with me and we cuddled and I woke up and he was there. He still remembers me, Gilbert!" Ludwig was beginning to hyperventilate as he looked at his brother with wide eyes.

Gilbert blinked slowly. Not wanting to excite his brother but not wanting to discourage him either, he decided perhaps it was best to humor him, "Uh, sure thing, Pal, whatever you say. Hey, we still need to go find Prince Alfred. Come on, big guy." Ludwig's eyes cleared and became serious. Nodding, they both went to look for their prince.

* * *

"Are you ok, mon ami," questioned Francis when he flew down to the shore. He spotted the pair from the sky after he had resurfaced in order to search for food.

Arthur heaved a tired sigh; he hardly slept a wink all night having been worried sick about the human that slept under him. His tail flicked anxiously as he watched Alfred's sleeping face. His boyish features brought a blush to Arthur's cheeks, "I'm fine but I'm not sure if he is."

Francis brought Alfred's foot to his ear, "I can't find a heartbeat."

"You git, even I know that's not where the heart-look! He's breathing." Arthur breathed out in relief and smiled warmly, he's so beautiful isn't he?" He ran his hands through Alfred's thick hair, marveling at how soft it was. Francis smirked and decided that perhaps it was best to give his friend some privacy. The merman was oblivious to his friend's departure and kept staring down at Alfred and sang softly, "What would I give to live where you are? What would I pay to stay here beside you?" He ran his knuckles delicately across his brow bone, "What would I do to see you smiling at me?" His knuckles continued their journey down the curve of his cheek bones, brushing away some of the fringe that fell delicately over his face.

Rodrich fixed the glasses on his face while keeping a firm grip on Feli's arm. The teen wasn't putting much of a fight, apparently still in a lovesick daze. When he was sure that he wasn't going to swim away, the older merman released him and he slumped tiredly against a rock. A familiar voice brought him out of his brief moment of piece and threw him into another fit of terror when he saw what his other charge was doing. What was wrong with teenagers these days?! His jaw dropped when he saw Arthur run his finger pads over Alfred's lips. Francis chuckled softly and lifted Rodrich's jaw in order to close his mouth.

Arthur paid no mind to the mermen behind him. His sole attention was for the human in under him, "Where would we walk? Where would we run if we could stay all day in the sun? Just you and me and I could be," the merprince watched as the human prince opened his blue eyes and smiled at him, "part of your world."

Alfred could barely see without his glasses but he could tell that the person before him was a man. A handsome one at that, "Who are you," he asked, wincing at the scratchiness of his voice. He heard faint voices calling out to him but he didn't respond. Meows and barking came towards them scaring off the man before him. He rushed to stand up but stumbled as the blood rushed to from his head making him get an instant headache.

"Alfie!" He fell over again when Matthew launched himself at him with wide arms. "Aflred you scared m to death! When I saw the explosion-and then you and Ludwig fell into the water- and I ordered them to turn back but they wouldn't. But Gilbert said he'd go looking for you and he did. But I wanted to help and now you're here and your fine and…oh god don't ever scare me like that again!" Whatever Matthew said was lost to the elder twin. It was all jumbled and to be frank he could bet money that even his brother wouldn't be able to tell you what he said. But under all that mess he could tell that his twin had been worried to the point he felt the need to bring out one of Ludwig's dogs to help search.

"Mattie? Did you see a guy just now?"

"A guy?" Matthew furrowed his brow in confusion, "No, Alfred. It's just you. Why do you ask?"

"A boy, no a man rescued me," he pushed away and tried to stand on his own. "He was singing and, oh, Matt, he had the most beautiful voice. He was pretty cute too."

Gilbert ran up in time to catch Alfred as the prince fainted, leaving his brother to lean against a rock, "What was he saying, Birdie?"

Matthew stared at his brother, "Nothing. I think perhaps he swallowed too much sea water."

The albino nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I think West did too. Come on; we'll get you three home to Elizabeta. She'll take care you guys. Who would've thought we were so close to home, eh Birdie?"

"I thought you had an excellent sense of direction?"

"Of course I do! But really, I'm no sailor. I'm a chef! Come along, Max. Blackie."

Four mermen watched as the four humans left the beach. Rodrich was beyond panicking, "Ok. Ok," running a hand through his black hair he took in a deep breath, "Ok, this is what we're going to do. We're going to forget this whole thing ever happened, ok? The sea king will never know. You won't tell him, _I_ won't tell him." Francis raised an amused eyebrow when Rodrich pointed at him. As if he ever went near Atlantica anymore. Rodrich continued to ramble about his plan, once again brushing dangerously close to the border of hysteria_, "they_ won't tell him and _I_ will stay in one piece."

Feli leaned under the rock they were hiding while Arthur rested above it; both were staring after the retreating back of their human crushes and completely ignoring Rodrich. Arthur felt a grin tug at his lips, "I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now. Watch and you'll see," he reached down and held his best friend's hand tightly in his, "someday _we'll_ be, part of your world!"

Rodrich shooed Francis away and ushered his charges back home oblivious to the two mermaids watching them carefully with a glowing violet eye each. Ivan cackled in cruel childish glee in his cave, "Oh, this is perfect! Little Arthur is in love. And he's not just in love but he's in love with a _human_. A human prince to top it off. Heh, Big Bother Robert will love that." He stretched out, his black tail flicking happily, "This is going to be too easy, right sisters?" Natasha and Natalya nodded knowing that he'd know that they agreed with him despite them being miles apart. Ivan smiled pleasantly, "Da, I think so too. And King Robert's love sick brother _would_ make a pretty addition to our little garden." The black tailed merman rubbed his chin in thought, "Da. That's what I'm going to do. Arthur will be part of the garden. You'd like that wouldn't you my darlings?" Natasha and Natalya blushed and nodded once again, though Ivan wasn't talking to them. He was eyeing his garden hungrily, relishing as the once merfolk, now turned into coral polyps, trembled in fear.

* * *

**A big thanks to everyone who has added this story to their Favorites and to their Follow lis****t. I know Prussia sounded a bit hard on Germany during their little chat but I promise he isn't mean. He just doesn't want his brother to miss out because of his obsession with trying to find Italy. Also it's in my opinion that Merfolk are very affectionate creatures, or at least they're very touchy feely. In the movie Ariel does hug Flounder to her and does hold his fin during the song and such which is why I'm having England and Italy interact the way they do. I think that's all I have to say for now, hope you all enjoyed it. Until next time where w****e'll a bit more of Romano/Turtle in the next chapter lol **

**spititualnekohime4****: I'm glad you thought so =3  
**

**zoewinter1: ;3**

**Fallen Heavens: Thank you! I think your hoping worked 'cause when I checked my email I had a bunch new notices about readers adding this story to their Follow list ^_^ Thank you all by the way!**

**Lintunia: Thank you! I'm so glad you think so. Francis and the fork was a fun scene to write ^.^ Don't worry, I'll see this story to the end. =3  
**

**VivaAmerica: Yup Yup. Thank you so much for the review ^_^ I'll see ya in the next chapter**


	4. Under The Sea

**Belgium/Emma: 25**

**Netherlands/Lars: 26**

**Hungry/Elizabeta: 28**

**Ukraine/Natasha: 31**

**Russia/Ivan: 29**

**Belarus/ Natalya: 25**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

The sound of waves gently crashing against the shoreline awoke Alfred from his sleep. Sunlight peeked through the curtains to tickle him through his eyes lids until he had no choice but to open them. Stifling a yawn, he tried to pull his covers over his head but insistent hands kept him from going back to sleep. He let out a groan of childish disapproval.

"Now, Prince Alfred, there will be none of that," snapped Elizabeta. "It's nearly mid-day and I think I've been more than generous by allowing you to sleep in." The housekeeper threw back his comforter, not abashed in the slightest about her prince's apparel, or lack of. "Come on now, up, up you go!"

"But, Lizzy," cried Alfred pitifully, "I was having a very nice dream just now. Please let me go back and at least finish it." He looked up at her with wide blue eyes, "Please?"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes. "Oh, Alfred. Of course I won't let you go back to sleep." As housekeeper of the castle, Elizabeta had grown quite used to both Alfred's and Matthew's attempt to get their way in regards to both sweets and extra sleep. However, her family, much like the Beilschmidt family, had been close friends to the royal family for many years now so she got away with most things the average servant would at another household. With that in mind, she knew she could, for example, pick up the still naked prince and toss him into a bath she had already prepared and scrub the muck from his body until his skin was pink. Dressing him in a white cotton shirt with a v-neck and forcing a pair of pants onto him, he insisted that he could put on his own boots and lace them thank you very much, Alfred was ready to greet the day properly.

"Thanks, Liz. Hey! Any word on that cute boy with the beautiful voice yet?" Alfred was fixing his sleeves but kept his gaze on Elizabeta through his mirror. "I think he's the one. I mean the dude saved me _and_ he made my heart race. No one's ever done that before, know what I mean?"

"You were serious about that, Alfie?" Matthew entered his brother's room with his bear, he named him Kumajirou, in his arms. "I thought you were just hallucinating or something. As a matter of a fact I'm positive you were." The younger twin sat on a chair near the balcony with a thoughtful frown, "Then again, Ludwig was also going on about a merman saving him last night."

"Do you really think my mystery guy's a merdude?" Matthew would've laughed at his brother's question had he not said it so seriously. Too seriously. Really? Not him too.

"Alfred…"

"No. Think about it. What if the reason we can't find him is cause he's from the sea. Maybe we're looking for him in the wrong places." Alfred started to pace around his room with his hand under his chin in thought, "Yeah. Hey, yeah! We can get small boats and go back to where the ship wrecked. We'll go there and-"

"Alfred, sweetie," called Elizabeta. The housekeeper was wringing her hands fretfully in her apron. "Honey, you know how much I hate agreeing with Gilbert, but he's right you know. Merfolk are things of legend. They don't exist outside fairy tales."

"How do you know?"

Green eyes blinked at the question. "Well, I personally haven't seen one but-"

"Ludwig has."

"Well, yeah or so he says."

"You calling him a liar?"

"What? No, I just think that-"

"Cause I know Luddy. And I know that that man is not capable of lying. He turns really red and he starts messing with his hair. I know cause once when he tried lying to me my goldfish still being alive when we were kids and I tried giving it a bath-"

"Alfred," exclaimed Matthew, having heard just about enough about sea creatures. "Alfred, no one's saying you or Ludwig are liars. _Maybe_ you did see mermen. Just like maybe people who are close to dying see god. You have to look at things from _our_ point of view. You two were blown into the water near a bunch of rocks. You guys probably even hit your head and swallowed too much water. The both of you were nearly baking in the sun! Please, brother, try to at least see the possibility that perhaps seeing mermen was the result from all the stress your brains and bodies went through."

The older twin pouted and looked down in shame, "I…I guess I can see that. I'm sorry, Lizzy. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Elizabeta pulled him into a hug, "I know, sweetie. You boys have been through a lot. Why don't you go down for brunch then take Max out for a walk through town? I'm sure it'll help clear your head." Both she and Matthew watched as Alfred picked up his flute and left his room. "Do you think he'll be ok?"

"I hope so," said Matthew softly. "But, you have to admit. That went _a lot _better than it did with Ludwig."

* * *

**~A few Days Later ~**

"Well that was," started Connor, the older of the red headed twins. His green eyes stared at his baby brother as he put away his music while humming cheerfully.

"…A first," ended Murphy, the younger twin. He and Connor watched Arthur, along with their other three brothers. Murphy's emerald tail flicked playfully, "What do you think brought this on, brothers?"

David grinned, "Who knows and who cares. Just as long as he keeps up the good work and actually comes to rehearsals like this from here on out, I won't complain." He lifted his baby blue tail and brought it down happily, the white tip fanning out to make bubbles, "Not to mention little Artie's finally smiling again."

Connor scoffed. "When isn't he smiling? Every now and again he and Feliciano will come back from Poseidon knows where and…oh my!" He started to smirk mischievously, "You don't suppose he and Feli…you know."

Christian and Kyle were pulled from their own conversation by their younger brother's comment. The older blonde made a face, "You're sick, man. Feli's like another brother to us. Why in Trident's name would he be attracted to him? How do you even know it's another merman he's attracted to? How do you know it isn't a mermaid?"

"To _you_ perhaps; and why wouldn't he be? The merman's pretty cute if I do say so myself," said David. "And if they aren't dating, heck, that means he's free game right?"

Kyle frowned, "Don't talk about him like he's some sort of meat. Have some decency for goodness sake." His pale yellow and lavender tail flickered in annoyance. Turning to Christian he raised an eyebrow, "And really? A mermaid? You act like you don't know your own brother." Kyle swam towards the bathroom where Arthur had twirled into a while ago. "Baby brother, are you ok? You've been in there for quite some time now."

The youngest prince sighed happily as he came out with a red flower in hand. He grabbed a hold of Kyle and twirled him around while humming a cheerful tune. "Hi, big brother. You're voice sounded extra beautiful today," he said, giving him a kiss on both cheeks, much like how Feli did to him and his siblings. Thinking it best to just go with it, Kyle let out a bubble of giggles and twirled with his youngest brother until he got dizzy. Letting go, Arthur swam past his gaping brothers and accidentally bumped into Robert's chest. "Oh, morning, Bobby." He tucked the red flower behind his brother's ear, the flower almost blending into the red head's hair. "I'll see you guys later." Arthur swam out of their rehearsal room as he harmonized and danced with himself.

Robert and his brother's stared after Arthur until they saw the red and silver tip of his fin disappear from sight. The king looked at Rodrich, who was quickly putting away the last of the instruments. "I say, Roddy, good work," he cried happily. "You accomplished a miracle in just a few days where I couldn't in years. If I knew you were going to be this good at keeping him in line, I would've suggested you do this sooner. What have you been doing all our lives?"

"Composing symphonies, your majesty," answered Rodrich dryly, adjusting the glasses on his face. "As I should be doing now. So, if you excuse me, Robert. Young majesties." The violet eyed merman swam as fast as he could after Arthur.

Rodrich's departure didn't faze the royal brothers as they were quite used to him leaving to play with his instruments and compose music for them in the privacy of his own room. David tucked his tail beneath him and floated higher than his brothers while on his back, "That wasn't Rodrich's miracle work, big brother. He's got it bad."

"Huh?" Robert looked away examining himself in the mirror, "Who does? What has he got?"

"_Arthur_, big brother," sighed Kyle happily. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Uh…"

Christian rolled his eyes but allowed himself to smile, "Looks like our little Arthur is growing up. The boy's in love."

"In love? "Taking the flower from his hair he inspected it. Red. The color of passion. The color of desire. The color of…love! "Arthur's in love?!" An excited smile began to grow on his face. Maybe_ this_ was a better solution to calm his baby brother.

* * *

Chaos. Complete and utter chaos. At least that's how Lovino saw the state of his kitchen. Pans here, pots over there, and piles upon piles of sweets. How he cursed himself for allowing Feliciano into his kitchen but if it kept him in sight and out of trouble then he'd just grin and bear it. Perhaps just bear it….or just…never mind. "CHIGI! What have I told you about dancing while cooking?! You could burn yourself. No! Don't add the clam powder yet. You have to wait until this stops bubbling else you're the texture is going to be-what are you doing now!" Lovino watched in horror as his brother started to add spice after spice into his pot of seaweed pasta sauce. He winced when he felt an annoyingly familiar chomp on his fin. Raising it towards his line of vision, he glared at the offender. "You! What have I told you about coming to the kitchen? Do you _want_ to be cooked, you little bastard?"

Feliciano giggled and pried the turtle from his brother's fin. Bringing the little creature to his chest in a hug he addressed his brother, "Aw, don't be like that, fratello. You know you love him."

"No, I don't," snapped Lovi. He grabbed a spoon and tasted the sauce his brother had made, sighing in approval. Perhaps the little idiot knew what he was doing after all. When he turned his attention back to his brother and the little pest, he was surprised that both were frowning. Well, Feli was. The turtle looked like it wanted to cry. He grunted in annoyance, "Damn it all, that stupid thing is worse than Antonio."

"You hurt his feelings, Lovi." Feli brought the turtle to his face to nuzzle its little head. The creature looked at Lovi sadly. "Don't worry, little one, Lovi does love you. Right, fratello?"

Lovi stared at them both before sighing and crossing his hands over his chest. With a blush he looked away, "I-I…I don't…_dislike_ him, per se. Gah!" The turtle launched itself to his head and hugged it tightly. "Get off of me, you little shit! Just 'cause I don't hate you doesn't mean I want you all over me. Damn it, I said get off!"

Feli giggled, "Well, I'll leave you two alone."

Pulling at the turtle in attempt to pry it from his head, little guy could hold on, Lovi gave up and turned to look at his brother in confusion. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I just, you know stuff."

"I asked where you were going not what."

"Out."

"With who?"

"Someone. I'll be back soon. Ciao!" Feli left before Lovi got a chance to ask for more information.

Lovi and the turtle exchanged looks. "You don't suppose…he's acting like how he used to when he had that little friend. He went on a sweet making marathon the last time he was in love." He looked at the candied kelp and sea grapes and smiled to himself. "You don't suppose my little brother's in love, do you?" The turtle nuzzled into chocolate locks letting out a happy purr. "Who said you can stay up there!"

* * *

Rodrich had found Arthur lounging in his personal garden, one that Feli had kept up with, on a high rock and plucking petals off of flowers. The elder was swimming nervously back and forth while his charge continued to pluck petals, letting them shower onto Rodrich's dark hair.

"Ok, it's been a couple of days and so far so good," muttered Rodrich anxiously, "I don't think the king suspects anything, nor Lovino for that matter." He spit out a petal that had somehow made its way into his mouth. Glancing up at his charge he continued to pace, "And if Feli's managed to keep his mouth shut this long I think it's safe to say that he won't blab. But keeping a secret this big from Robert…No! I must. _We_ must. He'll kill me if he finds out. Not to mention Lovino; he'll shrink me back into a crab and serve me up with a side of that stupid pasta if he finds out what Feli was doing with that human." Rodrich was starting to hyperventilate at the thought of both of his friends finding out what their little brothers had done under his watch. Poseidon help him.

Meanwhile Arthur continued to pluck petals, completely oblivious to the mental meltdown his caretaker was suffering. "Hmm," he sighed dreamily. A slight blush formed on his face, "He loves me. He loves me not." He glared at the offending petal and tossed away. "He loves me. He loves me not." His bushy eye brows shot up into his fringe when he saw that there was only one petal left. Grinning broadly he plucked it and held it over his heart, "He loves me! I knew he did!"

Gaping at his charge Rodrich swam up to him. "Arthur, stop talking nonsense." Honestly, did the boy have no sense of restraint?

The prince ignored him. Getting a look that Rodrich had come to dread, Arthur sat up. His tail flicking up and down with excitement, "I have to see him again. Maybe I can go tonight."

"Arthur..."

He pushed himself off the ledge and started to swim towards his room in hopes to find Feli there. "I bet that frog Francis will know where Alfred lives."

"Arthur please!"

"I'll swim to his castle and Feli can swim around to get his attention and-" The prince found himself immobilized. Turning around he saw that Rodrich was glaring at him exasperatedly and holding on to his fin to keep him from swimming off. "Let go of that, Rodrich. You know it's bloody bad manners to touch someone else's fin." 'Though, I wouldn't mind Alfred touching it,' he thought to himself with a blush.

Rodrich did as he was asked; reaching for Arthur's arm instead. "Please, Arthur. For the love of Poseidon get your head out of the clouds and back to the water where it belongs. Just listen to me." He sat his charge back down on his rock. "Down here is your home. Why would you even want to get involved with a human? Their world is such a mess. And it smells."

"What does?" The two mermen looked at two blond merfolk, a mermaid with a pink and bronze tail and a merman with a royal blue and bronze tail and a scar over his eye brow. Emma smiled cheerfully at her young prince while her brother gave a nod to Rodrich; both held their instruments seeing as they were heading towards the rehearsal room for orchestra practice.

"The Human world," said Rodrich with a sigh. "It would seem that Prince Arthur has an affinity with the surface. I'm _trying_ to get him to see reason." At the blank look he received, Rodrich sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake." Arthur rolled his eyes at the cliché but Rodrich ignored him. "You dream about going up there," shaking his shoulder's gently to enhance his point, "But that is a big mistake!" The prince raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Just look at the world around you," continued Rodrich, "Right here on the ocean floor. Such wonderful things surround you." The elder merman gestured wildly to Arthur's garden, which was indeed very nice. "What more are you looking for?"

Emma jumped in when she saw the prince open his mouth to retort, "Under the sea. Under the sea." Taking a hold of his hands in hers she pulled him up and twirled upside down with him, "Darling, it's better down where it's wetter. Take it from me!"

Lars sighed and put his and his sister's instrument cases down. 'Might as well help speed this along', He thought as he swam over to hover next to Rodrich. "Up on the shore they work all day. Out in the sun they slave away. While we devote our full time to floating under the sea!"

The spectacled merman sighed in relief. At least he had others to back him up. With his friend's help he was sure he could convince Arthur about the superiority of sea life in comparison to surface life. Now if only he could…oh! Grinning he took the blond prince from Emma's grasp, "Down here all the fish are happy, as off through the waves they roll. The fish on the land aren't happy," he pointed at a miserable looking fish trapped inside an air bubble, "They're sad 'cause they're in their bowl. But fish in the bowl are lucky; they in for a worser fate."

They watched as Lars popped the bubble, "One day when the boss gets hungry, guess who's gonna be on the plate."

Arthur made a face. So humans ate fish…so did they. Perhaps not as often or as much. And perhaps it was_ technically_ krill and shrimp but hey, who was keeping track of that. "Under the sea. Under the sea. Nobody beats us, fry us and eat us in fricassee," sang the three merpeople as fishes and other sea creatures were beginning to get into the song as well. Right. _They _did. "We're what the land folks love to cook; under the sea we're off the hook!" Man. They sure are paranoid about getting eaten aren't they.

"We've got no troubles," sang Rodrich, now _way_ to into the song.

"Life is the bubbles," cried Emma happily, now dancing with her brother. "Under the sea. Under the sea. Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here, naturally!"

Lars smiled to himself at his sister enthusiasm and tried to match it, "Even the sturgeon and the ray; they get the urge and start to play. We've got the spirit; you've got to hear it under the sea!" This counted as band practice right?

Rodrich swam around the garden, pointing to the sea creatures, most members of his orchestra, as they played their instruments, "The newt plays the flute. The carp plays the harp. The plaice play the bass and they're sounding sharp." Arthur smiled. The creatures did look like they were having fun. Perhaps…perhaps Rodrich is right about it being fun down here. "The bass plays the brass, the chub plays the tub and the fluke is the duke of soul!" The fluke pulled the saxophone shaped coral from his lips to confirm that statement.

"The ray, he can play the lings on the strings," sang Lars, swimming by the creatures, "The trout rockin' out; the black fish, well she sings. The smelt and the sprat, they know where it's at. And oh that blowfish blows." The blow fish glared at Lars and the merman returned it, their rivalry for first chair spiking.

Emma and Rodrich oblivious to the rivalry feud between Lars and a fish continued to dance together, "Under the sea. Under the sea. When the sardine begin the beguine, it's music to me."

Arthur was beginning to get bored with the exhibition. Where was Feliciano when he needed him? Speak of the devil. He turned when he felt a tap on his shoulder and grinned. Finally, some salvation at last! The prince leaned in when his friend motioned to come closer, his eyes widening with glee he took a look around. Sure enough Rodrich and his band were too absorbed in their song, more like a rant, to notice if he slinked away. Feli took Arthur's hand in his and led him away.

"What do they have? A lot of sand," continued Rodrich. "We've got a hot crustacean band. Each little clam here knows how to jam here under the sea!"

The mermaid patted the little sea slugs and sang, "Each little slug here is cuttin' a rug here under the sea."

"Each little snail here knows how to wail here," Rodrich was joined by the two siblings, "that's why it's hotter under the water. Ja we're in luck here, down in the muck here. Under the sea!" Everyone turned to look excitedly to where their prince was seated. Only to find that his seat was now vacant. Having nothing else to do, the sea creatures packed away their instruments to head on home. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Lars and Emma looked up from their instrument case then at each other before giving Rodrich a final look. The elder sibling responded, "Well, we figured that counted as rehearsal so now we're going home." Taking his sisters case with his, Lars swam away quickly before Rodrich had a chance to retort.

"Bye-bye, Roddy," cried Emma happily. "Good luck with the young prince. I bet you're going to do just fine."

She took off after her brother leaving Rodrich alone and staring at Arthur's empty seat. He heaved a long suffering sigh while he rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Someone ought to nail that boy's fins to the floor," muttered Rodrich.

"RODRICH!"

"Oh, come on!" Rodrich slipped the glasses back onto his face and turned around, his heart stopping when he saw Toris swimming towards him. This can't be good.

The petite merman slowed to a halt, his hair flying wildly in the water, just before he could collide with Rodrich. Toris's sea foam green tail moved slowly from exhaustion as he caught his breath. "Rodrich, I've been looking all over for you! The King has told me to tell you that your presence is required in the throne room _immediately_. He said that it has something to do with Arthur." Toris swam back towards the castle, now fully relaxed, having done his duty.

Rodrich flicked his tail back and forth slowly when what Toris had just told him sank in. He drew in a sharp gasp, "HE KNOWS?!"

* * *

The sea king sat in his throne happily gazing at the red blossom in his hand while Lovino was setting a small table before him. The little turtle helped him by bringing the plates with food. "What's got you in such a good mood, Robert?" Lovino looked at his chuckling king in time to see his smile broaden which made him grin in response.

"Well, I was just informed that my baby brother is in love," said Robert proudly, placing the flower back in his hair.

"Oh?"

"Yeah! I had Toris go get Roddy for me so I can ask him if he's seen him interacting with anyone more than usual."

Lovino scoffed. "Yeah? Well, Feli hasn't told me shit about it if his has. And you know just as well as I that if Feli doesn't know then Roddy probably doesn't know. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

The brunette scratched his cheek in thought. "You don't think that my brother…and your brother…that they… you know…"

"What?" Robert looked down at his friend in confusion. "That they what?"

Lovino resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Really now, for the ruler of the seven seas and everything in between, sole wielder of the Trident, Robert could be a real, for lack of better words, dumbass. "You don't suppose that Feli and Arthur are together, do you?"

"Well of course I do. They've been together since we introduced them. Little Feli is my baby brother's best friend but what does that have to do with anything?"

Instead of snarling in frustration, Lovi sighed and swam up so that he could see the sea king face to face. "That's not what I meant. Today Feliciano made a crap load of candy while dancing and singing to himself. Last time I saw him that happy was way back in our youth and he had this little friend he had a crush on. Now don't you think it's strange that both _my_ brother and _your_ brother are displaying the same lovey dovey symptoms? At the same time?" At the blank look he received, Lovi decided that perhaps it was best to just be blunt. "I think they've fallen in love."

"Oh, well, yeah I knew _that_ much already. But I don't understand the conec-"

"With each other."

The king stopped flicking his golden tail and just stared at Lovi. Feliciano and Arthur? In love? With each other?! His grip on the Trident became tighter which worried the brunette some. But he didn't have time to get away; Robert reached out and pulled him into an embrace, "That means we're going to be in-laws! Oh happy days! With them _together_ together then that means we're going to have nieces and nephews and that means that we won't have to worry about them going to the surface because they'll have their hands full. Oh, Lovi , this is bloody brilliant!"

"Gah-I..I can't even begin to name all the things wrong with that sentence," grunted Lovi. A shy cough interrupted their hug and Robert immediately put his friend down.

"Roddy! Just the merman we were waiting for. Come on over, man!"

Rodrich took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves and, "I must not overreact. I must remain calm." He willed for his tail to stop twitching and for his arms to stop shaking. 'Please, please, please! Please, don't give me away, body,' he thought to himself. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute, or so it would seem. Wiping his brow he cleared his throat. "Ok," he whispered to himself as he felt his friend's eyes on him. Oh great. Lovi was there too. Oh, goodness. Oh, Poseidon_ help _him! They're going to kill him and serve him up for the next celebration. No! No, they're not. They're your friends. I'm sure if I calmly explain things to them everything will be just fi-"

"Any time now, you music bastard," yelled Lovino in irritation.

The older brunet yelped and swam as fast as he could towards his friends. "I'm sorry," he squeaked. Clearing his throat, and ignoring Lovi's sniggers, he tried again. "I'm sorry to make you wait, your majesty."

Robert waved away his worries. "It's fine. Though, I must say that I'm concerned about Arthur."

"What? Why? You said that it was a miracle that he was happy!" Oh, Poseidon, he knows. He really does!

"I did. However, the cause of his happiness has been brought to my attention and I, well _we_," he gestured between himself and Lovi, "were hoping if you could shed some light on the matter."

Rodrich gulped at the intensity of the stares he was receiving. "Light…on the matter, sir?"

Robert grinned and leaned his face closer to Rodrich's, "Mmhmm, about Arthur and Feliciano."

"Oh, well I-I-"

"_Rodrich,_" sang Robert playfully bringing the trident's edge to Rodrich's chin, "We know you've been keeping something from us." Rodrich's eyes bulged from fear. They really _were_ going to kill him! "About our little brothers?" By this time Lovino was leaning on Robert's shoulder on his belly, eager to listen in on the gossip, er, news.

"Little brothers?" Rodrich was whimpering by now though his friends took no notice.

Oh, why did they have to be grinning like that?! Where they happy that they were going to kill him? Robert's green eyes glittered with joy as he gave a final mental nudge, "In_ love_."

"I'M SORRY," cried Rodrich throwing himself at their mercy. "I _tried_ to stop them, guys, but they wouldn't listen!" Both mermen jumped in surprise. "I told them to stay away from the humans," continued Rodrich, unaware at the shocked faces on Robert's and Lovino's face. "I told them that they were bad, that they were nothing but trouble but-"

Robert was first to react, "Humans? What _about_ humans," he growled sitting straighter, his Trident glowing ominously. Looking closer his red eye brows furrowed in angry confusion, "And what the bloody hell is that on your face."

Rodrich stopped talking immediately, realization sinking in like heavy lead in his belly. Oh shit.

* * *

"Can I open my eyes yet, Feli?" Arthur allowed himself to be dragged by the arm towards his and Feli's trove while keeping his eyes firmly shut.

"No, not yet. Don't worry though, we're almost there," said Feliciano giddily. "Hold on, I'm going to open the cave ok? Don't go stop swimming until I tell you, wouldn't want to get your fin caught."

"Ok. But why can't you just tell me what this is all about? The suspense is killing me."

"Patience, Artie. It's a surprise!" Feli gently took Arthur's arm again and continued their journey further into the cave. "Ok, ready? One, two,OPEN!"

"Honestly, if it's another plate of pasta I'm going to-OH!" There, before Arthur's eyes stood Alfred, posing heroically. "Oh, Feli," murmured Arthur as he swam slowly towards the human prince. The statue of him at least. "Oh, Feli, you're the best! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He turned towards his friend and picked him up in a hug before rushing to his gift. "How on earth did you even get him in here?"

Feli rubbed his arm sheepishly, "Well, it took me a while but I managed little by little." He smiled as he watched his friend cuddle up to the statue, he looked down at his own little gift, a small Ink Splatter of Ludwig and another human with red eyes.

Arthur chuckled happily and wrapped his arms around statue's neck, "Oh, what's that, Alfred? Run away with you? Oh, this is all so, so sudden." Not being able to handle his own happiness he let go abruptly and twirled around with Feli, both laughing until they heard two sharp intakes of breath and a whimper. Pulling away from each other to see who had intruded in on their special place they released a startled gasp.

Face hidden in the shadow, Arthur could still make out the very familiar, very dangerous glow of his brother's emerald eyes and the golden sheen of the scales of his tail. Next to him, Feli froze when he saw that Robert wasn't alone. Lovino was next to him looking just as angry as the king. Arthur swam forward, in effort to keep the statue from his brother's line of vision. "B-big brother? W-what are you doing here with Lovi and-" he narrowed his eyes when he saw Rodrich on his brother's right side, "and _him_." He spat out the word, too hurt and betrayed to say Rodrich's name.

Robert slowly swam towards his brother, hand on the trident becoming tighter and tighter. "I consider myself to be a very reasonable merman. I've given you and our brothers everything and anything you could possibly want. I've even allowed, Feli into our family because I knew how much he meant to you. All I asked for in return was one simple thing. And I expected for you two to obey it," he growled.

"But, Robert, I-"

"Is it true that you both saved a pair of humans from drowning," snarled Lovino, coming around to glare at Feli.

"F-fratello, we had to," cried Feli in defense as he slowly made his way towards his corner of the room to grab his box, should anything bad go down.

"Contact between the human world and the mer-world is strictly forbidden! You know this," shouted Robert, his eyes beginning to glow with anger. "Ever since dad died, I've taken extra care to make sure that that particular rule is obeyed. You know this! Everyone knows this! And you Arthur, you are a prince, you should be the exemplary merman to obey all rules!"

Eyebrows furrowed in both anger and fear Arthur couldn't believe it. They were getting in trouble for something so stupid and selfless. He met his brother's darker eyes with his own lighter ones, "But they could've died, Rob-"

"Two less humans to worry about!"

"You don't even know them!"

Robert scoffed and started to laugh darkly, "Know them? I don't have know them. They're all the same; spineless, harpooning, fish eating killers who kill more sea creatures than they know what to do with. Do you honestly believe that the two humans you saved are any different?! A human killed _our_ father. _His_ grandfather. What makes you think these two savages won't turn on you the second you turn your backs on them?!" Arthur, breathing heavily as angry tears stung at his eyes, shied behind the statue in search of some sort of comfort. Feli was too far away and something told him that making too fast or too sudden movements would only enrage his brother further. But Robert was too lost to notice that his brother had moved away from him. That his friends were moving away from him. "They're incapable of feeling anything but selfishness and-"

"Bobby, I love him," cried out Arthur. His cheeks red with anger, his tail swishing like it had a mind of its own. Feli stared wide eyed at his friend. Did he really just confess that? And to the sea king of all people? Oh, dear. He hugged his box to himself. Lovino and Rodrich were frozen in place with their jaws wide open. They now officially feared for their charges safety. The prince gasped when he realized what he just said looked to Feli in despair.

Robert's voice and gaze turned icy. "No. I won't allow that," he muttered. And though his voice was quiet, it cut through the teens like the sharpest of blades. He turned his gaze to Feliciano, making the teen flinch, "And you? Do you feel the same?" Locking eyes with Arthur then to his king, Feli nodded. "Have you two lost your senses?! They're human, you're mermen!"

Arthur had his arms wrapped around statue Alfred's neck and he pressed the side of his cheek against his back, "We don't care." Feliciano took this time to swim to his friend to hold his hand in support. No way was he going to let him to take all the heat by himself. Not when they were both guilty of the same crime. Not again.

Though seeing that small action only seemed add fuel to Robert's wrath. "So, help me, Arthur. I _am_ going to get through you." His Trident lit up with power, "And if this is the only way to do so, then so be it!" He aimed the Trident at wall after wall, destroying all the trinkets and treasures Feli and Arthur had taken years upon years to cultivate.

"Robert, don't," cried Arthur as he watched in horror. But his brother was past listening. He was extinguishing all traces of human culture, going for the larger objects first and letting the explosions destroy the smaller ones in its wake. "No! No, Robert, please!" Feli tightened his grip on Arthur's hand, a devastated sob when his corner was destroyed as well.

Rodrich's heart was breaking at the sight of Feli's tears and Arthur's desperate cries. Looking over Lovi, he could feel safe to assume that the short tempered merman was feeling the same. "Big Brother, stop it!" They tore their eyes from the mess and felt them widen when the sea king aimed the trident at Feli's box. In his hands.

Lovino growled, "Don't! Robert that's my brother's special box, don't-" A pained grunt followed by a smash told the older brother all he needed to know. Robert wasn't going to show any mercy.

Arthur's heart dropped when he saw that his brother had shot at Feli's box, whether he was aware that the merman had it in his hands was beside him. He rushed to his injured friend and helped him up. "I-I'm…o-ok, Artie," he said weakly. "Your statue."

"What," whispered Arthur.

"Your statue!"

Robert pointed his Trident one last time, this time at the statue of Alfred. Arthur rushed to Robert in attempt to take the trident from him, "Big brother, no!" He watched in horror as the Trident's power overwhelmed the marbled statue making it shatter into pieces. Lovino swam as fast as he could over to his brother to shield him from the flying pieces, taking multiple shards to his back, not deep enough to kill him but enough to stay lodged in there.

"Oh," whispered Arthur, "Oh, no. No." He felt heavy. He felt light. He felt…his body sank onto a rock and he allowed his form to drape over it as it fell. His shoulders heaved violently as he sobbed into his arms.

Robert's eyebrows unfurrowed as he looked at his brother then at the damage he caused. Feeling his own heart drop to his stomach, he looked at the Trident in his hands. Guilt was immediately working him and his being over as mercilessly as he had been just seconds ago. He looked over to the corner where Lovino was pulling himself away from a disheveled and shaken Feli. His eyes automatically zooming in on the shards of marble embedded on his friend's back. The red mark on his younger brother's stomach where it would later turn into an ugly purple from the bolt of energy he had shot him with. 'Oh, Father,' he thought to himself with disgust, 'what have I done?!' Arthur's sobs grew louder and he couldn't take it anymore. Robert swam away but was followed closely by Lovino who shoved him against the cave as soon as they got out side. The sea king didn't even fight it. Whatever his friend was going to do would be the _very_ _least_ he deserved after the destruction he caused. "Lovi-"

"Shut up," hissed Lovino. "Just shut the fuck up." Robert bit his lip. "I don't care what you do in regards to Arthur. He's _your_ brother. _Your_ responsibility. But when it comes to _my_ brother, Feliciano is _mine_ to do with what I need to do. You attacking him like that was uncalled for."

"I didn't mean to hurt him. I just-"

"But you did! Not only did you cause my brother physical harm but you probably shattered his emotional stability just like you've all but destroyed Arthurs. And those things in that box he was guarding were very important to him. Things our grandfather left him, among other things."

"I'm sorry, Lovi, I didn't-"

"Know? Yeah, you didn't. Know why? Because you didn't give them a chance to explain! I have a shit temper I know I do. But even then my hate for the humans doesn't go above the love I have for my brother. Yes, even I was pissed off by what they did, but I don't believe what you did merited to anything. All you got from your little pissy fit was your brother's hate. And my resignation notice."

Robert blinked, "What? Lovi you can't be seri-"

"Effective immediately," muttered Lovino pulling away from the sea king. "I'll start packing and Feli and I will be on our way as soon as possible." He didn't let Robert respond. Instead he swam as fast as he could back to the palace. Robert felt his mouth dry up but all he could do is sigh and swim back to his the castle as well.

Back in the cave, Arthur's loud sobs quieted down to soft ones. His shoulders still shook and his head was still buried in his arms. Rodrich took a hesitant pace forward, "Arthur, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to tell him I just-"

"You bloody wanker! How could you?! You promised you wouldn't tell!"

"I didn't mean to! I thought he knew. I-"

Just go away," whispered Arthur hoarsely. When he felt Rodrich's hand on his shoulder he shoved it off, "Didn't you hear me?! I said leave me alone!" Rodrich flinched but did as he was told. Feli looked at his broken friend sadly and moved to follow Rodrich out of the cave but a weak grasp on his wrist prevented him from going further. "Not you, you git," whimpered Arthur. "Don't leave me." Feliciano sat down beside Arthur and allowed the he weeping merman to cry into his lap, wincing when the vibrations of his shudders added pressure to his abdominal.

Two black and silver lionfishes peeked from the safety of the highest shelf to the mermen below. Their mismatched eyes were glowing with mischief as the descended on them, turning into mermaids as they did. "Poor children," cooed Natasha, while circling at them alongside her sister.

"Poor _sweet _children," purred Natalya. "They have a very serious problem."

Natasha pulled Feli against her chest, making him blush with discomfort, "If only there were something we could do, sister."

Natalya did the same with Arthur, pulling the merman's cheek against hers, "But there is something, big sister."

Arthur frowned, "Unhand us this instant!" The mermaids let go and smiled pleasantly. The prince trailed his eyes to their tails. The mermaid with short platinum blond hair had a sea foam blue tail with black along her sides and embracing the blue of her fin. The one with long platinum hair had metallic lilac with black encases only her fin. His green eyes also took note of their eye patches. "Who are you," he asked scooting closer to his friend.

"Don't be scared, little prince," said Natasha once again coming close to the two teens.

"Da, we represent our big broth-someone who can help you." Natalya ran her fingers through Arthur's hair making him squirm with irritation.

"Someone who can make all your dreams come true."

"Just imagine," the two mermaids pulled away and hugged one another beginning to speak in unison, "you and your lovers, together, forever."

"Arthur," whispered Feli, gripping his box tightly to his chest. "Arthur, I don't like this."

A dark look ran past the mermaids faces but it was gone as fast as it came. Natasha smiled again. "But why not, little comrade? The prince knows of whom we speak."

"No, I don't," said Arthur with a frown.

"Big brother Ivan has great powers. You know this to be true, Prince." Natalya and Natasha sighed lovingly at the thought of their brother making both mermen shudder. Wait Ivan?

"You don't mean the mer-warlock? The one who taught here in Atlantica Academy? The Sea beast?"

"Don't you call him that," hissed Natalya threateningly. She cried out in pain as her eyeball glowed behind her eye patch. "Forgive me, Prince Arthur. It's just that, my brother was falsely charged and now lives in exile. _Your_ brother exiled him." At the mention of his brother Arthur's gaze hardened. He remembered that day. He remembered it well.

"Arthur," cried Feli, tugging at his arm. "Arthur, you can't seriously be considering it! We can't go there, we can't!" Arthur said stayed quiet and the mermaids knew that they were very close in hooking him. If only they would just bait him a little bit closer.

Natasha shrugged, "suit yourselves." She tugged her protesting sister out of the cave, giving the remains of Alfred's statue a swift kick with her fin, "It was only a suggestion."

The prince picked it up sadly, weighing the options in his head. "Wait!"

* * *

**I don't think I like how 'Under the Sea' came out but I tried. I worked on this all day and I hope you guys enjoyed it ^_^. Don't worry, Emma/Lars aren't going to be part of the plot in this story lol. A huge thanks to everyone who's added this story, and me to their favorites/follow list =3 Until next time~  
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**VivaAmerica: Thank you for the review! Don't worry they will ^_^ although, their plot is seriously undecided right now. I have everything planned and their path is currently in the fate of a quarter lol. I like both T_T Either way they'll get a happy ending. Thanks again for the review  
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**zoewinter1: Yes he does T_T**

**Fallen Heavens: lol I'm glad you're enjoying it =3**

**Skysword: Hey you! Long time no see. Thank you so much for the review ^_^ I hope schools going ok**

**vvrules21: Thank you so much dear! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the story ^.^ Thank you for adding it (and me) to your follow list**


	5. Poor Unfortunate Souls

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

Beady green eyes watched sadly as his adorable master muttered angrily to himself while swimming back and forth between his drawers and his clam case. Lovino took a quick look around to make sure everything he need was packed. Oh! Rushing over to the kitchen, the turtle following after him of course, he picked out his two favorite pans and dumped them into his case as well. Ah. He threw in the spatula while he was at it.

"Right," he said out loud. "Now to go back up Feli's room then we'll be on our way." Lovi grimaced when he felt a chomp on his fin. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy? I don't have time to play with you right now, you little bast-oh." Taking the turtle from his fin, he took a heart shaped locket from around the turtle's neck and opened it. Inside, Antonio was hugging him to his chest and showering his face with kisses. Lovi smiled sadly and put it around his own neck, "Thank you, little one." With a gentle pat on its little head he coaxed him away before dragging his clam case over to Feli's room. His hand hesitated over the door knob when, Lovi gave a quick glance across the hallway to Arthur's room. What will Arthur think? How…how-will he be even more devastated when he comes back and finds out that his best friend will no longer be at his beck and call? No. That was cruel way of describing his brother's and the prince's relationship.

"What are you doing?" Lovino jumped when he heard David's voice. The young merman eyed him curiously, his tail moving at a leisurely pace. Lovi's hazel eyes caught sight of a bag behind the prince's back. David took notice and blushed, "Ah, this…this is for Feli. I thought that maybe…he might, you know, maybe want to go…out and…uh, what I mean is. Feli isn't dating Arthur is he?"

"No."

David smiled in relief. "Oh good! Then he really is free game. Uh! Not that I think that he's meat. No, I would never. Kyle told me that I should be more careful about how I look at merfolk. Not that I look at merfolk constantly, mostly mermaids." The young prince panicked when he realized what he said, "B-but I do think that mermen are pretty hot too, you know? I have no problem with guys dating guys. Uh-"

"Is there something you need from my brother's room? Or is that bowl of pasta and candy for your brother?"

"Well, I was going to ask him if he'd like to join me for a bowl. Is he in?" David brought out the bowl of seaweed pasta and held it in front of him. "I know that it's his favorite."

Lovi eyed the mess in the bowel with apprehension, "Did you make this yourself?" When David blushed the older merman sighed, "Well, I guess you might as well know. Next time add the seaweed to the sauce after it's been thoroughly cleaned. You'll do well to remember that."

"Because I'll need to cook it more for Feli?"

"No! Because from now on you and your brothers are going to be cooking your own damn meals until the king finds a replacement for me. Now if you excuse me, I have to go pack Feli's room up." Lovino entered Feli's room, surprised by how clean it was. Ok. Start with his... Lovi swam slowly to his shelf where he had a medallion of both of them with their grandfather. It had been created before Lovino had come to Atlantica to study at Atlantica Academy. His grandfather smiled and gave both of them kisses, a young Lovi wiping it off his reddening cheek. Lovi smiled to himself and closed the medallion. That definitely had to come with them.

"What do you mean find a replacement for you? And what are you doing taking Feli's things? What's with the case?"

Lovino rolled his eyes, "It means exactly like what it sounds like and it looks exactly like what you see. I'm packing. I quit. We are leaving."

"You and Feliciano?"

"No, me and Roddy. Yes me and my brother! Jeez, all you brothers are cut from the same cloth, I swear." Lovi swam about the room looking for anything that his brother could not leave behind. Well, the box, but he already had that with him.

"Why?" David came forward staring at Lovi with his large green eyes. His blond hair drifted in every direction with his quick movements in attempt to keep up with the older merman. He reached out and tugged at his tanned arm in attempt to get him to stand still, "Please, tell me. What happened? Why are you two leaving? Does Arthur know? Does Robert? Lovi!"

"No, Arthur doesn't know and it kills me to think how he's going to react when he finds out. Yes, Robert knows and as for why, well, why don't you go ask him. Be careful though, he'll probably wreck your room as well." Lovi turned to the prince and shook his hand, "It was a pleasure cooking for you and watching you and your brothers grow."

But David wouldn't let go of his hand when Lovi, "Why can't _you_ just tell me?"'

"Why do you care so much? It's not like Feli well ever see you the way you want him to. He is in love but it's not with any of you and I'll go ahead and spare you any ridicule you might put yourself through and say that no matter what you do, nothing is going to put a crack in the love he has for that one person."

"I don't care. He's still my friend. Yeah he spends more time with Arthur and whatever but we do hang out too. Why won't you tell me why you're taking him from us? Arthur's going to be devastated."

Lovi sighed and pulled his hand away. "Robert hurt him."

"Like he yelled at him?"

"That and he shot at him with the Trident. They went to the surface and saved a couple of humans and your brother lost it. He went to that 'special place' they're always going on about and he destroyed everything in it. He then shot at Feli and while I can see that he didn't mean it, I can't bring myself to serve him after he did that." Lovino picked up the shell case and swam out of the room. He failed to see the look of horror on David's face and the look of anger on Christian's as he swam past him and the other princes.

Connor and Murphy crossed their arms over their chest, "Well, they brought it upon themselves," they said together. The older twin snorted, "Robert did tell them time and time again not to go up there. What's so special about it anyway? It's so hot and disgusting."

Kyle raised a blond eyebrow, "And how do _you_ know that?"

Connor nudged his brother. "We don't. We just assume it is cause it's so bright out there."

"It doesn't matter whether or not you think it's disgusting. Obviously the surface holds some significance to Arthur and his friend," muttered Christian. "…Dad liked it." He looked down at his orange and white speckled tail in thought. "Kyle, go and try to convince Lovi not to leave. I'm going to go talk to our big brother." Kyle nodded and swam after Lovi in time to catch him before the merman left the castle. Christian watched as his younger brother spoke rapidly to the Italian before taking off in search of Robert.

David came out when Kyle came back from talking to Lovi. "Well," he asked, "What did Lovi say?"

Kyle sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "He said that he'd think about it."

"Where is he going now?"

"He's going to go find Feli to talk to him about what he wants to do."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

* * *

Rodrich sat miserably on a rock just outside the cavern he was cast out of. He fumbled with the glasses he took, running his fingers along the black frames. Guilt was chewing his insides, making his tummy hurt. The look on Arthur's face when Robert destroyed his trove would forever haunt him. The look of pain when Feli was shoved against the wall when a bolt hit the box in his hands would forever be embedded in his memory. Oh, why did they have to be so…different? Why couldn't they just be like all the other merfolk. And why, why, _why_ did he have to care so much about their well-being and their feelings. Why couldn't he have more of a back bone and defend them? Rodrich brought a pale hand to wipe his eyes before placing the glasses back on his face. "Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut," he asked himself. Long before Feli came into the picture he remembered Arthur being a bit of a loaner. Sure his brothers would play with him but with such a large age gap between some of them, David being the only one close to his age, they tended to pick on each other more often than not. True with time they had grown out of it, for the most part, but Arthur was still a pretty sad merman. "And now, I've taken from him one of the few things that did make him…hap-happy." Four figures swam over him casting shadows to where he was looking. Glancing up, he paled.

With furrowed brows, he followed after his charges and the two mermaids, "Arthur, where are you going?" He curled his lip at Natasha and Natalya, though they paid no mind. "What are you doing with these-these riffraff? Natalya growled softly but at her sister's touch she ignored the jab.

"We're going to go see Ivan." Arthur swam faster, his hand in Feli's to make sure he could keep up. He didn't even give a second glance back when he heard Rodrich sharply intake a breath.

"Arthur! You can't go to him; he's a demon. A monster!" Natasha and her sister fought the urge to turn around and attack Rodrich when they heard that but a gentle touch to their inner beings calmed them. Ivan cooed to them that he didn't mind being called that. If anything it, well… He chuckled when he felt his sisters speed up. Arthur and Feli kicked their tails to keep up but Arthur found that Rodrich was holding on to his tightly.

Turning around he sent a cold glare to his caretaker, "Why don't you go tell my brother what I'm up to? Your good at that." Arthur pulled his tail away and continued.

"But…But I," he looked at their retreating figures, panic rising within him.

"Where are they going?" Rodrich flinched when he heard Lovino from behind him. Turning around he saw that the merman was staring after his brother and Arthur. "Who's that with them?"

"No, time to explain. J-just-just...oh! Come on," he cried out in frustration and took Lovino's arm so that the two could chase after their charges.

* * *

Arthur and Feli were lead past boarders of Atlantica into deep sea and though the two had explored much they were confused when the mermaids lead them past mounds of bubbling water. Arthur took in his surroundings and squeezed his friend's hand in comfort when he heard the brunette whimper in fear. "Stiff upper lip, old chap. We'll be fine," he whispered to Feli.

It was all Feli could do not to pull away and swim back home. The golden scales on his dark aqua blue tail tingled in warning as the mermaids lead them to what seemed like the remains of a giant sea beast. He started to resist Arthur's insistent tugging, "I-I don't want to go in there, Arthur."

"And why the bloody hell not?"

"Arthur…my scales are tingling," he looked at his friend pleadingly. "Please, lets just go back."

"To what? We'll only be miserable. I'll be miserable. I'm sorry , Feli, but if what those two mermaids said is true and Ivan really can help us get what we want, then I'm all for it. Don't you want to see Ludwig again?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then quit stalling and let's go." Arthur looped his arm through Feli's and the both entered the mouth of the beast. Strange creatures, coral polyps perhaps, began to cry out in alarm. Ok, this _is_ a bit scary but…Arthur kept swimming. Natasha and Natalya were quite unfazed by the creatures crying out. The polyps' eyes widened when they saw who the merman was that was trailing after them. Immediately they shot up and wrapped themselves around Arthur.

Feliciano dropped his box in surprise and rushed to free Arthur, only to shriek in horror when one grabbed at his own wrist, its eyes begging him for something he didn't understand. They looked familiar to him somehow and as he tried to tug away, he could see desperate tears well in its green eyes. Natalya helped them rid him of the polyps while Natasha handed the box over with a pleased smile and they continued on until the mermen could see a lavender glow of light. "That was creepy, Artie," whispered Feliciano. "It was like they were warning us or something."

Arthur gulped and nodded; for once agreeing with Feli that perhaps they shouldn't have come after all. They hovered by the door even after Natasha and Natalya had entered the room. The walls were covered with bottles with creatures or parts of creatures. Books and ruins laid about in no particular order. Despite the creepy nature the tunnel that had lead him here, the room just as creepy if not more so, Arthur felt himself relax at the familiarity the room held for him. As a magical merman he could appreciate what most of the objects were. A happy giggle interrupted him from his thoughts.

"Little Arthur," cried Ivan from his crevice. He poked his head out and smiled cheerfully. "It's been too long, da? Well, don't just lurk there. Come in. Come in, comrade!" Ivan swam out to properly greet his guests. "Don't tell me that in my absence, all your gentlemanly manners have disappeared," he teased. Arthur swam inside slowly with Feli following behind. They watched as Ivan sat down at a vanity; Natalya ran a brush through his hair while Natasha pulled out his favorite white scarf. He allowed himself to be dotted upon with a lazy grin. "Now then, why did you come to me, comrade? Oh, wait! Don't tell me, let me guess." Ivan brought a hand to his chin in thought, "Ah, yes. You have crush on human, da, this human prince fellow. Not that I blame you, he _is_ quite handsome."

"You're more handsome big brother," murmured Natalya, giving Ivan a hug. Natasha pulled her away so that Ivan could take care of business with his guest.

The prince widened his eyes in surprise, "H-how did you know?" Looking closer at the mer-warlock he backed away, "What happened to your eyes?! I remember them being, violet or something like that."

Ivan brought his hands to his cheekbones as if he forgot about his eyes. Then he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling delightfully, making Feli shiver in fear. "Ah, yes. I was young and stupid in that time and, in my exile, I wasn't allowed to leave much. So my beautiful and thoughtful sisters offered to be my eyes. Come now, girls. Don't be shy. Show my favorite pupil what I mean." The mermaids removed their eye patches making both Arthur and Feli gasp when they saw it.

"Y-you traded your eyes?"

"Da. It was a small price to pay but now," he swam over to his sisters and gave them a kind kiss on their cheeks, "I have a little piece of them with me no matter how far they are. Unlike me, they don't have limitations to where they want to go. But enough of that. We're here because of your…dilemma. Of course, you were right to come to me. The solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."

Arthur gasped, "Is that even possible?" He felt his heart quicken with excitement. "Can you really do something like that?"

The tone behind the prince's voice was enough to put a wicked smile on Ivan's face. Smoothing out his scarf, he pulled away from his sisters to come closer to the two teen mermen. "My dear, sweet prince," he cooed sweetly. "That's what I do. It's what I live for; to help unfortunate merfolk like yourselves." Ivan brought his arms around Arthur's and Feli's shoulders, "Poor souls with no one else to turn to." Feli pulled away and hugged his box to his chest. The elder blond merman raised an eye brow, "I admit that in the past I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a beast." He smirked when he heard his sisters giggle, "But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways; repented, seen the light, and made a switch to this." Arthur watched as Ivan took a hold of Natasha and swam with her in a dance, "And I fortunately know a little magic. It's a talent that I always have possessed."

Arthur snorted. Ivan knew more than just a _little_. He jumped when the older merman to him. Cupping his chin, Ivan wiggled a finger playfully in front of him, "And dear gentleman, please don't laugh. I use it on behalf of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed." His smile grew when he heard his sisters mutter 'pathetic.' "Poor unfortunate souls; in pain, in need," he sang as he pulled open a pedestal. With a swift move of his hands the pedestal began to glow lavender and two images of miserable looking merfolk appeared. He pointed to each, "This one longing to be thinner. That one wants to get the girl. And do I help them?" Ivan snapped his fingers, making obvious changes to the mercouple and they embraced each other lovingly, "Yes, indeed. Those poor unfortunate souls. So sad, so true. They come flocking to my cauldron crying, 'Spells, Ivan, please!' and I help them! Da, I do"

Looking at his guest sadly, Ivan sighed. "Now it's happened once or twice, someone couldn't pay the price, and I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals."

The two images squeaked in terror as they became coral polyps. Arthur stared with wide eyes. Then that meant…those things grabbing them in the entrance…_they_ were merpeople? His body shivered and he moved to float next to Feli. Well, a deal was a deal. Right?

"Yes I've had the odd complaint," interrupted Ivan when he saw the look of doubt cross Arthur's face, "But on the whole I've been a saint to those poor unfortunate souls!" He giggled and used his scarf to pull in Arthur to his chest, "Now, here's the deal. I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now listen carefully, comrade. Before the sunsets on the third day, you have to get this prince to fall in love with you. " Arthur blushed and he looked up to meet Ivan's eyes in question. "He's got to kiss you," he clarified, "But not just any kiss. The kiss of_ true_ love. If he does kiss you before the sunsets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently. But if he doesn't you'll turn back into a merman. And you'll belong…to me."

"No," cried Rodrich as he rushed in, "Arthur, you can't-mmh!" Natalya wrapped herself around Rodrich and held a blade to his neck. The two teen mermen didn't notice him struggle.

Ivan glanced over Arthur's shoulder, his eyes glittering in approval. He shifted his gaze back to the merman in his arms, "Have we got a deal?"

"Wait a second." Arthur pushed himself away from the merman's pale chest. "What about Feli?" When Ivan cocked his head in confusion, the prince elaborated. "Can't you turn him into a human too?"

"I-I…I don't know, Arthur," whimpered Feli in fear. "This sounds like we'll have a lot to lose if it fails…"

"Now see here, Feliciano. Don't tell me you've forgotten about the promise we've made when we were kids. Remember? We said that if either of us got the chance to go to the surface that neither would go unless we both could." Arthur turned back to Ivan, "The deal can be for the both of us, right?"

Ivan flicked his black tail in thought, "Da, I suppose so." He smiled gently to Feli, "Is that something you'd like, little comrade?"

"Well…"

"Please, Feli," cried Arthur grasping to his shoulders, "I can't do this alone. This really is the answer to all of our problems. Going to the surface has always been our dream!" Feli looked away, not having the heart that _his_ obsession with the surface was only due to one thing. Person. "What about Ludwig?" _That _person. "This could be your chance to find him and tell him how much he means to you."

"What about our brothers? If we do this we'll never be able to see them again." He loved Ludwig yes, but what about Lovino? He loved him just as much and he didn't want to leave him all alone. What would he think? He'd think that he abandoned him just like he thought Antonio did.

"Right," mumbled Arthur. "I didn't think about that."

Ivan felt the distance from his prize become greater. "But, you'll have your lovers," he reasoned. "Life is full of tough choices, da? What will you choose; a life of loneliness and regret? Wishing that you had had the chance to be with the love of your life? Or a life of happiness and a sense of completion? Think of the late Romulus. Didn't he have a love that he denied himself? You do remember don't you, little comrade?"

Feli did. He remembered how his grandfather would cry when he thought he wasn't looking. He remembered how heartbroken he was that the human he wanted didn't know how he felt. The merman looked down at his tail; he really _did_ like it. The tip of his fin touched Arthur's red. Arthur. Feli met his friend's eyes and saw that he truly wanted this chance. With a sigh he nodded, "Ve~"

"Oh thank you, Feli!" Arthur pulled Feli into a hug, "you won't regret this!" They didn't notice Rodrich struggle against Natalya in protest, his violet eyes widening from how readily Arthur was to accept Ivan's deal. Did he even know what he had to give as payment? Knowing Ivan it could be anything!

Ivan chuckled in delight. Arching his back backwards he, playfully approached Arthur, "This is one more thing I must say before we can proceed with the paper work."

"Paper work?"

"Da. I make a point to get all my deals on paper…just in case. Don't worry it's just a familiarity. Mother always did say I would make a great business merman one day," he said with pride. "Anyway, as I was saying, there _is_ the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing you know."

Arthur panicked, "But I don't have any-"

Ivan waved him away, "I'm not asking for much. Just a token really, a trifle. I can assure you neither will miss it."

"You _can't_ have my box," growled Feli, surprising Arthur.

But the mer-warlock waved his fears away with a smile. "No, no. Don't worry. I know how much the contents of that box mean to you. Besides, I have no use for those kinds of trinkets." Ivan chuckled and made his way to caress Arthur's and Feli's neck, drawing jealous growls from Natalya and Natasha. Paying them no mind, Ivan continued, "No, what I want from you is…your voice."

"Our voice," questioned Arthur, bringing a hand to his throat.

"Da, comrade. No more talking. Singing. Nothing of the sort."

"But," said Feli with a frown, "without our voice, how are we-"

"You'll have your looks," interrupted the devious merman as he ran a hand down Arthur's torso before cupping Feli's face, "your pretty face." Pulling away he chuckled and playfully sashayed his hips, "And don't underestimate the importance of body language, da! The men up there don't like a lot of blabber." Ivan swam towards a large cabinet, "they think a man who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it's preferred for lovers not to say a word and after all, comrades, what is idle prattle for? Come on! They're not all that impressed with conversation," he began tossing bottles over his shoulder, "True gentlemen avoid it when they can."

Bottles filled with strange creatures, some familiar to Arthur from the old books he used to read from back he was allowed to study magic, began to descend from where Ivan was tossing them over his shoulder. They watched as they fell into a cauldron creating a small explosion. The dark merman swam quickly over and added a few more things from vials his sisters supplied him with, "But they dote and swoon and fawn, on a lover who's withdrawn, it's he who holds his tongue who gets a man. _Come on_ you poor unfortunate souls!"

Feli and Arthur backed up uncomfortably but the Natasha pushed them forward. She smiled at them and said, "Go ahead, make your choice. My brother's a very busy merman and he hasn't got all day. It won't cost much, just your voice."

Arthur looked up in time to see that the smoke had created a vision of Alfred smiling at him with longing. He approached it with a hand out stretched to touch the vision but Alfred's smile became a smirk. "You poor unfortunate souls," Alfred spoke with Ivan's voice before the image evaporated and Ivan's childishly smiling face replaced it. "It's sad but true," he plucked an innocent jellyfish, who had the unfortunate luck to swim by him and tossed it into the cauldron as well.

Rodrich whimpered in distress, his glasses fogging up from all the smoke the cauldron was releasing. Lovino panted by the time he arrived at the cave. Grumbling to himself about stupid-fast-swimming- music-loving-bastar-! He froze in mid rant and stared at what was going on before him. Rodrich was being restrained by familiar mermaid and his brother and prince were standing before Ivan and his other sister. Lovi wanted to barge in but found that his tail refused to move. His heart thundered in his chest when he saw the dark tailed merman pull out a scroll.

"If you want to cross the bridge, comrades, you've got to pay the toll. Take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll," he gave him a pen and turned to his sisters with a wink, "Natasha, Natalya, now I've got em, girls. Your brother is on a roll! **These poor**." Arthur read through the brief contract. "**Un**." He looked at Feli. "**For-**." The brunet gave him a week smile and nodded. Ivan's duel colored eyes darkened with cruel childish malice, "-**tunate souls!"** The contract glowed gold when Arthur signed his name on the dotted line, giving his consent to proceed. The document rolled itself up and cut through the water and into Ivan's hand. His smile turned into a smirk and he turned back to his cauldron, his black tail shimmering and flicking with dark excitement, "**Beluga, sevruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea!**" The blue liquid began to bubble as Ivan waved his hand over it. Lightning and thunder startled the two teen mermen but when they tried to back away, they found that they were encased inside a wall of swirling water and energy. "**Larynxis, glossitis Et Max laryngitis la voce to me!" **Lavender boney hands of energy followed Ivan's when he raised them over his head. The whites of his eyes had gone black making his grin look beyond frightful. His voice took on a raspy tone, and for a brief moment, Arthur thought that perhaps his brother had been right to seal the magic merfolk. "Now, little comrades, sing," he rasped.

Arthur looked to Feli and took his hand. They'd do this together, "Ah-ah-ah-ah," they vocalized, "ah-ah-ah!" Their voice boxes tickled at first and then burned as a purple glow engulfed them. They squeezed each other's hands for comfort and encouragement.

"Keep singing," growled Ivan, his hands maneuvering the large lavender closer to them until forcing them down their throats.

Tears pricked at the two mermen's eyes when they felt fingers digging into their voice boxes but they kept vocalizing. Feli felt his box fall but he couldn't move. He watched as the hand withdrew from his mouth with a spherical ball of energy still vocalizing on its own. Natasha collected it into a sea conch while her brother collected Arthur's into another.

Lovi finally found the will to move when he saw his brother and the prince get absorbed into a large bubble. Rodrich squirmed out of Natalya's arms and rushed to pick up Feli's box. Both watched the transformation in horror, not really paying much attention to Ivan's cackling.

Arthur groaned in pain. Bones rearranged themselves, splitting in two. Muscles were growing at a geometric rate followed by new blood vesicles and flesh. Their scales melted from their bodies, the tails slipping down to reveal their new legs. Feli was crying from the burning sensation in his lungs. It was too soon. Too soon. They lost their ability to breathe too soon! The bubble popped and they fell; now not having their tails to help them keep balance. Immediately, Lovino and Rodrich swam to them, wrapped their arms around their torsos and raced to the surface.

"Why are you fucking slowing down," screamed Lovino when he noticed Rodrich slow in their ascent. "They'll die if we don't get them up there for air!"

"They'll die if we take them up there too fast," retorted the elder merman. "Come on, we're almost there."

"They aren't going to make it!"

"Yes, they will!"

For Arthur, it was the worst few seconds of his life. His body was burning from the neck down. Throat tingled, lungs felt like they wanted to explode in their desire to breathe. He fought against the instinct to take a deep breath underwater, knowing that it could harm his new human lungs. His lower half felt so exposed now that he didn't have his tail to protect his vital regions. The only delight he felt was kicking his new legs and feeling the water pass through his toes. Just a few more seconds. Through his tears he could see the sunlight becoming brighter. And brighter. And brighter. And- He took a gasp of air. His lungs finally relaxing in relief. Beside him he could hear Feli coughing up water but beside that he was fine too. Lovi and Rodrich continued to swim. The shore just a short swim away.

* * *

"Robert!" Toris looked up from his work. He sat down a plate of food out for his king and took his leave. The sea king didn't bother to acknowledge his younger brother which only angered Christian further. "Damn it, Robert," he growled shoving the small table away. "I'm talking to you."

Robert sighed and lowered his head on his fist, "I _know_. I can hear you."

"What have you done?"

"I've been sitting here for the past few hours. Haven't really conjured any storms though."

"Stop bullshitting me, Bobby. You know damn well what I'm talking about. What did you do to Arthur?!" Christian's tail flickered with anger. His short blond hair stood up as he made his way closer. His green eyes not faltering in their intensity as he stared his brother down.

"You have some nerve," started Robert with a dry chuckle. "Not everyone can look me in the eye after speaking to their king like that."

"I'm not speaking to you as my king, _Robert. _I'm speaking to you as my older idiot brother, who is embarrassingly and ironically living up to the reputation of a red-head. Really? You once told me that when it was your turn to rule that you wanted your reign to be like dads. What changed?"

"I _am_ ruling like dad. What makes you think I'm not?"

"Dad wouldn't have done what you did to Arthur. You think you're doing right by him, let me tell you, you're not! Out of all of us, he probably suffered the most. Mom died before he got the chance to meet her. Dad died a few years later. His mentor and only companion turned out to be a psychotic warlock so he gets banished a few weeks after dad dies. His imaginary friends abandon him after he gets sealed. Berwald and Tino moved to Nordic waters, taking their family and_ his_ friends with them. Really, Robert, need I continue? And now, you've forced Lovi's hand and he's going to take the last source of companionship our baby brother has. Feliciano was a blessing for this family and because of your temper tantrum, Lovino is taking him away!"

"Christian, they saved a pair of humans. You know damn well I couldn't let that slide!"

"So what? What harm is there in saving a life? What would you have them do? Leave them for dead? Let them drown? How would that make them any better from the mindless killers you say humans are. They showed compassion and mercy. Those are qualities you should encourage and be proud of." Christian's eyes softened when he saw Robert's shoulders begin to tremble.

The sea king lowered his head in shame, "I-I know, ok?! I know. I know I did wrong and I wish I could go back and stop myself from acting the way I did but I can't. I didn't mean to hurt Feli. I was blind with rage and I wasn't thinking. Artie though, I hurt him the most. He had this cave and-"

"I know."

"What?"

"I know about the cave. So does Kyle. We've been there a few times actually. Arthur wanted to put shelves in there but didn't know how so me and Kyle put them in for him. He didn't say what they were for but we figured. Especially when we'd see them go in with a bunch of crap. Sometimes they'd even take it to their room."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd react this way. Honestly, mate, what's the harm in collecting nick nacks?"

"It's not so much the collecting that bothered me; it was that they would go to the surface to seek out that idiot frog, Francis."

"So?"

Robert gave his brother an exasperated look, "So? Really, '_So_'? They could've been seen and caught. Or worse killed by humans! How can you look me in the eye and question that?"

Christian sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "I know, why you feel that way. But you have to realize this. They run an equal chance of getting hurt here in the sea. Don't forget that while most magic merfolk aren't holding it against you for their seals, there are a few who are resentful. Not to mention

the sharks. They're _really_ resentful. What's to stop them from coming and harming any of us in our own domain? There's only so much you can do to protect Arthur. I know he's the baby but he's not a baby anymore, Bobby. You have to learn to let him go."

"But-"

"No, brother." Christian swam up to his older sibling and pulled him in for a hug. Robert leaned his head on the blonde's shoulder. "You have to let him be happy."

* * *

**Hello, so I think this turned out ok. I had hoped it be better but...yeah T_T I hope I did Russia/Ursula's poor unfortunate soul justice if not *hides in the corner with a rain cloud over her head* Let me know how it came out yeah? Also, I really like Australia's tail lol, I based it off a orange and white koi fish I use to have. The other tails are based of beta fish and some mermaid tails images I found on Google. Well, have a great weekend and I'll see y'all when I post up the next chapter, maybe on Sunday =3  
**

**Oh! I was wondering, are the chapters a good length? Should I make them shorter? Longer? Or are they a good as they are?**

***Edit: Did I mention I love reviews?**

**VivaAmerica: I know, I really love that song lol. I sing it while driving to school (probably the only song I actually sound good singing) Thanks for the review! I'm glad to hear you like the story ^.^**

**zoewinter1: Yup yup T_T; thanks for the review ^_^**

**Lintunia: Hi! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Skysword: I'm glad to hear that ^_^ And thanks, I'm glad you think so!**


	6. Of Crabs and Men

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid. I also don't own that song Prussia sings about himself.  
**

"What on Poseidon's blue sea possessed you two morons to make a deal with that raving lunatic?!" Lovino had started screaming after catching his breath. Neither he nor Rodrich had the endurance to swim long distances let alone swim long distances with extra weight, so it had taken them quite some time to get Arthur and Feliciano to shore. Rodrich had collapsed onto a rock out of exhaustion while Lovino had dropped himself onto the shallows. After a few moments, the extent of what they had just allowed to transpire had settled in and Lovino had been the first to declare his disapproval. "Do you two even have any idea how serious this is," he screamed. His eyes had turned almost honey colored in his fitful rage. He continued his rant but neither Arthur nor his brother had bothered to listen.

Arthur lifted his upper body slowly from the sand. The transformation had left him lethargic and very sleepy. Had treading water always been that exhausting? He brushed his bangs back and leaned back on his arms to soak up some sun in effort to warm up. Was water always this cool? Opening his eyes, he saw them. A smile began to work its way on to his face when he poked at his new knees. Lifting up a leg he stared at his foot, giggling when he flexed he foot and wiggled his toes. "Hey, Feli," he mouthed. Oh. That's right. But this was way too cool! He nudged his friend awake and pointed to his legs. Feli's eyes widened as he took in his own new appendages.

"Mon dieu," cried Francis. The white bird landed on top of Arthur's leg, the merprince too happy and excited to care. "Look at you two! I was very worried when you guys didn't come visit me these past few days." He eyed his two young friends in curiosity, "My, my. Is it just me or is there something different about you, Arthur? Ah! Feli, mon cher, you too!" He cocked his head to the side in confusion, "But what is it?" Francis turned back into a merman and braced an arm over Arthur's pale leg, his head resting gently on his fist, "Did you get a new hair cut? Or perhaps you've simply been using the dinglehopper. But of course; that must be it! I told you it-" Arthur shook his head excitedly. "No? Ok, hmm…oh! You changed your seal?" Arthur frowned and looked at his arm. Nope, the black feather mark was still there…just as it always has been. Feli giggled silently and nudged at Francis's side with a toe while Arthur began to jiggle his leg up and down with a grin.

Rodrich took this time to sit up on his rock and glare at the blond merman. "They've got legs, you idiot! They traded their voice to that-that _sea beast_ for legs."

Francis pulled back from his perch and stared in shock. That's right , legs. Huh, so that's what legs looked like without the strange coverings humans wore. Did that mean…the elder blonde got a lecherous smile and went underwater only to be pulled up by his hair by a furious Lovino, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, you perverted bastard?!"

"Nothing," cried Francis, bringing his hands up in defense. "I was just…curious to see what else…uh-changed?"

Lovino let go of the merman's hair and glared. "Right, of course you were. Just keep your head above water where I can see it." He pulled himself closer to his oblivious brother and put a protective arm around his shoulders while making an 'I'm watching you' sign with his hands.

They were silent for a few moments until Francis's curiosity got the best of him again. "So, what do they have to do?"

Rodrich raised a delicate eyebrow, "Do?"

"Oui, mon ami. If I recall, Ivan doesn't just _do_ things out of the kindness of his heart. Usually he asks for things in return or puts almost impossible clauses into his contracts. So, I'll ask again. What do they have to do to keep their sexy legs?" He tried to watch as Arthur struggled to stand up but Lovino through a handful of kelp at his face. The purpled tailed merman gasped in horror. In his desperation to get the prince some oxygen and take him to land so that they could rest, he'd all but forgotten what Ivan had said they had to do in order to keep their legs. And, oh! What should happen if they failed! He began to hyperventilate. "What's wrong, mon ami?"

Lovi watched as Feli also tried to stand up only for his legs to shake in protest, making him fall back into the water, splashing the three older mermen. "The music bastard probably just remembered," he muttered, shaking his head when Feli started to laugh silently at his clumsiness. Arthur offered his hand and they both stood up, holding each other for support. "Arthur has to get this human prince bastard to fall in love him and kiss him or some shit like that."

"That's not the worst of it," cried Rodrich, finally getting over his panic attack. "He's only got three days to make this happen." Francis's eyes brows rose up. "Just look at them! Look at _Arthur_! Arthur's on legs; on _human_ legs!" He gasped in a lung full of air, "My nerves are shot. Fried. Gone!" Rodrich let himself drop onto his rock, back first. He didn't care if it hurt. Hell, he didn't care if he looked like a damn sissy throwing an overly dramatic tantrum. If anything, he deserved to! He brought an arm over his eyes and sobbed into it, completely ignoring the stares he was receiving from Francis and Lovino. "This is a catastrophe; what's King Robert going to say about this?!" Sitting up, his eyes widened in fear from behind his glasses, "I'll tell you what Bobby will say; he'll say," Rodrich reached out and shook Lovino's shoulders, " 'I'm going to kill me a distinguished composer', that's what Bobby will say! And he's going to force me to turn into a crab so that you can cook me and because you're pissed at me for letting them go when I was supposed to be watching them, you won't even fight for me! You're just going to grin and pull out your mallet and ask him if he wants my juicy meat cooked rare, medium or well-done." Lovi was about to head butt his friend when he accidently brushed his curl but to Rodrich's safety, the merman managed to pull away.

Rodrich wrung his hands nervously as he thought about his options. "I know what we're going to do. I'm going to march right back home and tell him just like I should've the moment I saw those two sirens." Arthur stopped staring at his feet, he and Feli had tried to dance with each other but that only resulted in them wiggling their toes in the sand when they fell four too many times. The prince tried to run but his still weak leg muscles trembled in response, making him fall into the water once again. He managed to reach out for Rodrich's fin just as the still ranting merman hand submerged his front half into the water. Rodrich resurfaced and glared at Arthur's desperate head shaking, "Don't you shake your head at me young man!" He pulled up his body so that he was sitting in front of his charge, his tail twitching in thought, "Maybe there's still time. If we can get that monster to give you back your voices, you can go back home with all the normal fish and be," his thought broke off when he saw the tear well in Arthur's green eyes. The young blonde's lip trembled and… oh Poseidon. "And be miserable for the rest of your life." Rodrich sighed in defeat and patted Arthur's matted down hair, "Ok, fine. You win, I'll try and help you find that prince."

The older merman blinked in surprise when Arthur let go of his fin and pounced on him with a hug. Lovino scoffed, "Fine, I'll help too, but only because Feliciano's fate rests in Arthur's hands. I have no doubt that the bastard my brother loves feels the same way. So, I'll tag along to make sure he doesn't try anything funny." Feli crawled over to his brother and kissed his cheek in gratitude.

Francis, after soaking all the information up, started to laugh jovially. "Honhonhon, mes amis, don't look so miserable about helping your little ones. They only want to be happy and nothing is as beautiful as love. Well, perhaps maybe me. Now, if you two want to be human, the first thing you need to do is dress like one." Turning himself into a bird, Francis took off only to come back a few seconds later with a large sheet of white fabric.

"What the hell is that for?"

"This is a boat fin," said Francis happily giving it to Feli. "They're what make the boats move but I've seen human women make some pretty things to wear out of them. And if I recall, Feli is brilliant at making things." Feliciano ran his hands along the white fabric and smiled at Arthur. He knew just the thing he was going to make!

* * *

Max lounged lazily on his master's head while Alfred played on his flute. The melody of his savior's song kept replaying in his mind and due to his constant playing, he had been banished outside his own castle until he learned to play another song. The blond prince sighed, pulling away the instrument from his lips, he petted his cat. "I can't get that voice out my head, Max." The cat stopped purring and looked at Alfred with sympathy, "We've looked everywhere, kitty. Where could he be?"

"Now you know how I feel." Alfred looked up from his perch on a rock to see his best friend and body guard standing a few feet from him. Ludwig stood with his arms crossed over his chest making his white cotton shirt stretch over his biceps. The taller blond had his hair out of its usual slicked back style and let it fall into his cerulean eyes. Sighing, he reached down to pet his German shepherd, "That hopelessness feeling of being incomplete is something I've had dealt with for the past ten years now."

"Because of that boy you knew? The um…the merman?" Ludwig looked up sharply, eyebrows furrowed because he thought that his friend was making fun of him. But when he saw nothing but sincere sympathy on Alfred's face, the blonde sighed and nodded. Alfred stood up, Max jumping onto his comrade's back in the process, and patted Ludwig on the shoulder. "Come one, what say you we go for a walk on the beach?"

"Ja, that sounds good." The two men led their pets down the beach as they spoke about the possibility that Alfred's mystery guy could in actuality be a merman. Max was contently allowing Blackie to explore the shores shallow water when he suddenly caught scent of something delicious and almost familiar. He pawed at the dog's head before jumping down. He looked at Blackie, communicating silently through his expressions, '_hey, smell that?_'

The German shepherd sniffed the air and let his tongue flop out of his mouth, '_Ja! It smells like the food my vati's brother sneaks to our bowls. Want to go see where it is?_' Max gave him his best feline smile, _'Race ya there!_'

"Hey!" Yelled Ludwig when he saw that his dog had taken down the beach, "Come back, Blackie!"

Alfred chuckled and chased after his cat, "Come on, dude," he called over his shoulder, "do you really think they're going to just do as you tell them to? Let's go see what got them so excited."

Meanwhile, back on the other end of the beach, Francis was applauding Feli's handiwork. Even Rodrich and Lovi looked impressed at Arthur's new pair of pants. Feli secured them around his friend's waist with a piece of rope before running his hands down the sides to make sure they were as clean as they could be. Standing back he gave Arthur a thumbs up. "You look great," he mouthed.

Arthur grinned and mouthed back, "Thank you."

"Ok," grunted Lovino, "That's nice and all but what about yo-Ow!" Growling dangerously, he counted to three before lifting his fin out of the water and over his head. Of course. Why did he think swimming miles away from home would spare him and his tail from the fin chomping little bastard that was happily clinging to his fin. The turtle almost looked pleased with himself in finding his master's lover and started to purr in delight. "CHIGI! Let go of that, you little shit!" Swinging his tail back and forth he managed to dislodge his fin from the little turtle's mouth, sending the poor creature soaring back into the sea. He quickly dragged himself onto the shore and as far away from the water as possible.

"Really, Lovi, that was hardly necessary," admonished Rodrich as he too dragged himself onto the beach. "He must be really lonely without Antonio and really seems to love you. Though only Poseidon knows why," he muttered the last part but Lovino heard him anyway.

"I resent that! Besides, the little fucker should know better by now. I don't get why he's always biting my fin like that."

Francis looked at where the turtle landed, his scent had seemed familiar to him but he dismissed the notion. Turning back to the other two merman he raised an eyebrow, "And what about you two, mes amis? What disguise are you going to wear?" He watched as Rodrich shrugged and turned himself into a blue crab. Lovino however scoffed.

"As if_ I'm_ turning into something tasty to the fish-eaters," he said. Hunching his shoulders, he arched his back and fur started to grow all over his body as he started to shrink. His tail shortened and thinned, the fin disappeared as two cute ears popped out from his head.

Feli gave a silent excited scream and swooped his brother into his arms, "So cute," he cried silently. Even Arthur nodded with a silent agreement as he reached over to pet the cream and dark brown furred cat. Lovino hissed, giving Feli a warning swiped at his cheek but his brother refused to but down his feline older brother.

Giving up, he turned back to look at Rodrich with a smug grin, "Well, you see? No one's going to be eating me while I'm in this body. You however…"

"I'll take my chances," grunted Rodrich. Everyone jumped when they heard wild barks and meows. Feli immediately dropped his brother while Arthur scrambled to climb onto a boulder. Francis squawked out a 'good luck' before taking to the sky and Rodrich ran as fast as his little crab legs would take him. He jumped into Arthur's back pocket crying out teasingly, "I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that loud monstrosity is after _you_, Lovi!"

"Sh-shut up, crab bastard! Oi, Feli! Don't be like that! Pick me up this instant, you idiot!" But to his luck the Blackie and Max ignored him and ran straight to Arthur and Feli. Arthur panicked and raised his legs to his chest while Feli hid behind his back. Realizing that something was missing, Feli quickly jumped back down to get his box.

Arthur glanced at the two animals. 'They look familiar,' he thought to himself. Max meowed happily when he realized that it wasn't food that he had smelled, it was the funny man hanging out on his master's boat. The large Maine Coon jumped into the blonde's arms and started to purr loudly, running his scratchy tongue along the man's face. 'You silly little bugger,' thought Arthur with a silent giggle. He looked up when he heard Alfred's voice. Bless his luck!

"Max, where are you," called Alfred. His eyes widened when he saw the face he'd been looking for. "I-It's you! Oh my God it really is!" Alfred jumped up and down excited before running over to Arthur and taking his hands into his making the silent blond blush. Arthur felt his heart speed up with delicious excitement upon meeting Alfred's joyous gaze. "You have no idea how long and how hard I've been searching for you." Alfred's glasses were bouncing on his face as he kept jumping up and down, "Oh! Mattie is totally going to eat his words now. I knew you weren't a figment of my imagination. You're too hot and awesome to be. But then again I am a hero and a hero does have an awesome imagination. Not that you are. Oh, no! What if you are?! What if I finally lost it and you aren't really here."

Arthur's head was spinning from everything his love had just said. Wait. Not really there? "Of course I'm here, silly," he mouthed. "You have no idea how badly I've want to see you again. I had to go and make a deal with the sea warlock and give up my-my-"his face fell when he realized that all his explaining had been for naught. And by the look on Alfred's face, he hadn't understood a word he had mouthed.

"I-uh I didn't quite catch any of that." Alfred cocked his head in confusion. Could this really be the man who saved him? Reaching out, he brushed his fringe out of his eyes. It certainly looked like him. Same glorious green eyes. Same cute bushy eye brows. Same beautiful face. But… "What's your name?"

"Arthur," he mouthed. Yeah, this was going to be a lot tougher than he thought. Suddenly he felt someone push against him and he fell over the rock and into Alfred's arms.

"Blackie," yelled Ludwig when he finally caught up with his friend and dog. He looked horrified when he saw that his dog had pinned down a man against a rock and was currently lavishing his face with sloppy doggy kisses. "Blackie, bad dog! Off, off I said." He pulled the German shepherd off a dazed Feli before turning back to him, "I'm sorry about that, he's usually really well behaved. I don't know what came o-over-ooOOH MEING GOTT!" Ludwig's face immediately turned an embarrassing shade of red when he saw what the man was wearing. Or rather, what he was _not_ wearing. "Y-your pants! Where are your pants?!"

Feli blinked up in confusion and smiled grandly, "Luddy! Don't you remember me? It's me Feli!" He jumped onto the blond and hugged tightly. Arthur and Alfred chuckled.

"What are you doing? You're naked! Why are you naked?!" Ludwig didn't know what to do with himself. Or the naked man hanging onto his arm. "H-HERE PUT THIS ON!" He shrugged out of his shirt and hurriedly put it on Feli. The shirt was large enough to cover everything seeing as it came down to his thighs.

The brunette looked down at it then at Ludwig and smiled again, "Thanks, Luddy! You always did get embarrassed when I hugged you but I'm glad to see that you're still just as generous as ever." When he looked back to meet the blonde's blue eyes, his smile faltered, "L-Luddy? Why are you looking at me like that?" Then it hit him. Ludwig hadn't heard a thing he said.

"Alfred, who _are_ these people," asked Ludwig. The man before him looked all too familiar. And stirred within him something painfully close to what Feliciano did when they were last together.

Alfred shrugged and looked at the man in his arms. "I don't know, man. I _thought_ it was my mystery guy but…he can't speak."

Arthur looked sadly away, 'But I _am_ your mystery guy. Blast it all!' Max gave a sympathetic 'meow'.

"I see."

"Hey," said Alfred brightening up, "why don't we take them back to the palace? Get them cleaned up and what not."

"But we don't even know them."

"So? These two obviously went through something terrible to be out here in nothing but a pair of pants and," he giggled, "and naked. Come on! We should help them; after all, that's what a hero does."

Ludwig sighed and nodded, "Ja, ja, fine. But if Elizabeta says anything I'm going to tell her it was all your idea." He helped Feli onto his feet again, giving up when Blackie immediately felt the need to sniff places he shouldn't, and picked him up bridal style. He raised an eyebrow when Feli placed his box on his belly in order to wrap his arms around his neck.

Alfred turned around and stuck his tongue out at his friend, "Whatever; you know she won't mind." Turning back at the man in his arm he winked, "After all she has been bugging us to bring home a couple of cute guys."

"Somehow I don't think this is what she meant."

* * *

"OH MY GOSH! THEY FINALLY BROUGHT HOME A COUPLE OF CUTE GUYS!"

Elizabeta had all but squealed in glee when Ludwig and Alfred arrived back. She took the two silent men and rushed them to a guest room to draw them a bath. The Hungarian had gone all out on the bath. Arthur watched as she pour bottle after bottle of sweet smelling oils and salts until the water was bubbly with white suds. She immediately helped them in and started to scrub away at their bodies all while talking a mile a minute. "So you two, washed up from a shipwreck," she asked as she rinsed Arthur's hair. "Poor dears, it's a good thing Alfred thought to bring you guys home. Don't worry, we'll have you all warmed up and feeling better in no time." She pulled away when Feli jerked away from her hands when she accidently brushed against his curl when she was washing his hair. "Oops, I'm sorry, sweetie. Did I hurt you?"

Feli blushed, 'you _something_ alright.' He shook his head and brought his hands up to wash his own hair, offering her a gracious smile for taking care of them. That seemed to satisfy Elizabeta for the time being, her smile returning once again.

"Ok, I think you boys are almost done here. I'm going to go find you some clothes ok? Don't get out until I get back. I'll, uh," looking at the makeshift pants she took them with her, "I'll just have one of my girls get these washed for you. Be right back!" Arthur nodded in thanks. Oh! Wasn't Rodrich in there? Ah, well. The prince leaned back into the warm water. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself.

Downstairs, in the servant's court yard, Elizabeta handed over the pants to one of her subordinates before making her way back upstairs to dress their guests. Rodrich sputtered in disgust when he was tossed into the soapy water along with the wretched garment. But before he got a chance to escape, hands dove in and clenched the fabric between harsh fingers. His teeth chattered with every scrape he and the pair of pants went through along the side of a washboard.

"Well," said the laundry maid, "you must've at least heard about these guys. I heard Gilbert say-" She ran the fabric a few more times along the board until it met her satisfaction.

"Gilbert," scoffed another laundry maid, "when has that idiot ever gotten anything right?"

Rodrich felt himself being lifted by the woman who had washed his current hiding place, Gretchen, and tossed onto a moving platform. Gretchen narrowed her eyes in disapproval, "Watch what you say, though are boss won't get upset, lord knows Gilbert will have his pride wounded if he hears you call him an idiot."

"Whatever, Miss Elizabeta calls him that all the time and _she_ never gets into trouble."

"Well, that's because she's a noble too. Lord only knows why she and those two gorgeous German brothers are working here." Rodrich gasped in horror when he realized where the platform was taking him to. Bracing himself, he cast a protective barrier to protect his internal organs from the pressure the laundry wringer was about to put him through.

"Who knows," sighed the woman working the wringer. "All I know is that flirting is wasted on those men. They're all gay!"

"I know right?! And for them to fawn all over some guys who just showed up in a rags? They can't even talk. It just not fair!"

Gretchen took the pants, and a dazed Rodrich, and pinned them onto a clothes line, "At this point, I don't think Prince Al even cares whether the guy has blue blood in him or not."

"Well, if it's a man Prince Alfred wants then I have a cousin-"

Rodrich couldn't hear the women gossip anymore when he jumped into the first open window he found. He groaned and brought a claw to rub his little head, "My, goodness. That was terrib-" He froze when he got a good look at where he had landed. His tiny jaw dropped at the sight of dead fish, some decapitated, lined up for preparation. Looking to his right pots and pans were already sizzling and boiling with more sea creatures. But what took the cake was when his eyes landed on a platter of stuffed crabs. "Oh sweet starfish," he whispered in fear before fainting.

* * *

"Kesesese," giggled Gilbert, much to Ludwig's embarrassment. "That boy sure is a cutie, West. Not as cute as my Birdie of course." He sent a wink to Matthew who just blushed and hugged his bear to his chest.

Matthew brushed off his own embarrassment and looked at his brother curiously, "I don't understand why your so upset, Alfie. You said you found your mystery guy."

"No," huffed Alfred, pressing his face against the window of his dining room hall, "I said he _looks_ like my mystery guy. Actually he looks exactly like him, only…only he can't talk. I swear, I _am_ going to find him. And when I do I'm going to marry him."

"Silence isn't a terrible thing," said Gilbert with a shrug. "Why would you want someone who will talk your ear off?"

"Gilbert!" The albino winced but grinned sheepishly at his father. Wolfgang raised an eyebrow to his oldest son before smirking. "That wasn't what you told me in that last letter you sent me. What was that you said? 'Oh Mattie has the cutest voice and told me the sweetest thing when we were making-"

"V-VATI!" Gilbert's red eyes widened in embarrassment, "I-I-I –um," looking over to his lover he stood up and rushed out the room shouting, "I have to go check on our dinner!"

Wolfgang chuckled and wiped a tear from his eye. "Ah, it always did tickle my soul to see how quickly his face changes color. Though I suppose that's due to his pale skin." He turned to his other son, "What about you?"

"What about me, Vater?" Ludwig hid his blush as he took a drink from his beer.

"Vater?" The older German raised an eyebrow, "What happened to 'Vati'?"

Ludwig fought his own embarrassed blush when he heard Alfred snigger in amusement, "Nothing... I just thought that perhaps, I'm too old to be calling you that."

"Aww," Wolfgang pouted, "But if you're getting too old then that means _I'm_ getting too old. No. I won't have that. It's bad enough that your mother thinks that I'm too old to continue sailing the merchant ship; I won't have you do it too. Keep calling me 'Vati.'" When Ludwig nodded, Wolfgang gave a pleased smile. "Now, what's this I've been hearing about mystery men?"

Alfred turned around to explain but was interrupted by Elizabeta's giggles. She brought out a shy Arthur and an excited Feli, who immediately ran to sit next to Ludwig, much to the blondes surprise. Arthur pulled at the sleeves of his white shirt, the fabric feeling a bit constricting on his arms but otherwise he supposed it wasn't too bad. The v-neck allowed his chest to breath so that was good. His pants felt a bit better than the ones Feli had made him and the boots he had tucked in the material made his feet feel nice and warm. Looking up to see what Alfred thought, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the spectacled blond had his mouth parted in awe.

Both princes had a pretty pink blush painted on their faces by the time they were only a foot away from one another. Alfred gave a crooked grin and took Arthur's hand in his, "Y-you look amazing."

Matthew stood up and offered Arthur his hand with a smile, "H-hello, my name is Matthew. I'm Alfred's younger twin brother. I hope that Elizabeta wasn't," he looked over at the Hungarian before whispering, "too much to handle."

"I heard that, Mattie," snapped Elizabeta playfully.

"I'm just singing your praises, Eli!"

The group chuckled and Alfred helped Arthur into his seat before taking the one next to him, never mind that his brother had been sitting there first. Arthur looked at all the silverware on the table in confusion before finding one that he absolutely knew what it was. Taking up the dinglehopper he brought it to his hair. He faltered when he noticed that everyone was staring at him peculiarly. He thought to himself worriedly, 'What are they looking at? Is this something one does in the privacy of their room?' Looking over to Feli, his friend gave him a shrug and motioned to keep it for later. Nodding, Arthur put the fork back down.

Matthew picked up his bear again and smiled kindly at their two guest, "We're actually very excited to have you two here. It's not often we get to have dinner guests. Oh, that is with the exception of you Mr. Wolfgang."

Wolfgang waved his hand dismissively while taking out his favorite pipe and tobacco, "Think nothing of it, my boy. I'm hardly ever here; it just so happened that my ship was going to make a stop here and I thought to myself, oh what the hell. It's not often I get to grace my two sons with my awesome presence." He began to fill his pipe, "Besides, I'm only here for dinner. The crew wanted to head out before that storm rolls in." He struck a match and lit his pipe, the smell of herbal tobacco immediately releasing into the air.

Feli's eyes lit up upon seeing the pipe and reached out to take it from the older man's hands. He raised it up to show Arthur and then looked back at Wolfgang.

The older blonde chuckled, "Oh, you like that do you? It's one of my personal favorites. As a matter of a fact it was your cousin you carved that out for me Lud-" Feli blew into it, releasing a dark cloud of ash and smoke. It was silent for a moment until Ludwig and Alfred burst into laughter. Elizabeta hid her smile behind her hand while Matthew chuckled into Kumajirou's white fur.

Ludwig was first to calm down. He cleared his throat and offered his father a napkin, "Sorry, Vati."

Wolfgang wiped his face clean before smiling fondly, "Don't be. Actually a very old friend of mine did the very same thing as well when he first saw my pipe. He somehow got it into his head that this was supposed to be an instrument of some kind." He glanced at a fluster Feli with a faraway look, "Actually, you look a lot like him. Granted he was a bit older than you when I met him but he did have a sweet little boy who used to play with my young Luddy."

Feli looked up, 'That's because the man you're thinking about was my grandpa.' He smiled at the man. 'You were very kind to us.' Wrapping his arms around Ludwig's bicep he snuggled into his arm with a happy sigh, 'and I'm glad I found you again.'

Ludwig blushed, his heart beat racing as this complete stranger nuzzled his arm. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to push him away. Something about him seemed _very_ familiar. He reminded him so much of his Feliciano but that was impossible. Feli was a merman and could talk! This man…this man could not.

Matthew broke Ludwig's train of thought by addressing his brother, "You know, Alfie. That's the first time I've heard you laugh in weeks. And, that's probably the first time I've really heard _you _laugh in…years Ludwig." Alfred wasn't paying his brother much attention, his eyes kept drifting to Arthur as the blond kept eyeing his silverware with adorable wonder. And Ludwig, well Ludwig seemed to be concentrating very much in keeping a straight face but that was proving to be near impossible since a blush kept working its way onto his face with every nuzzle or tug Feli gave his arm. Sighing, Matthew turned to the only person who didn't completely forget about him, aside from Gilbert, "Lizzy, what's Gilbert making for dinner?"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes at the thought of Gilbert but smiled pleasantly, "It's your favorite, sweetie. The idiot is making his specialty, stuffed crab!"

* * *

"This can't be happening to me. Where is that hot-tempered merman when I need him?" Rodrich had woken up a few minutes shortly after fainting and was about to crawl away until he heard a gruff singing voice.

"Beloved angel," it sang, "I'm a man! I'm big and strong and hot! With me I'm safe and I'm mine!" Oh Poseidon it was getting closer… "Beloved angel, only mine! Beloved angel, I'M MINE! Durturududu," the door to the kitchen slammed open with a powerful kick, "YEAH," cried out the strangest human Rodrich had ever seen. His eyes were red and his hair and skin were really white. His choice of black apparel certainly didn't help matters. And was that a bird in his hair?

Gilbert kept the door open to allow a little cat he had found on his way to the kitchen. It had clearly belonged to that strange boy Ludwig brought because upon seeing him, the boy had picked up the cat and gave it two kisses. The feline struggled and decided to join the albino to the kitchen. "You hungry, little guy? Well, don't worry because the awesome me is going to feed you the most awesome fish you've ever had! Give me a sec so I can find them." He opened a cabinet and stuck his whole upper body in it in search of his fresh fish.

Lovino climbed onto a window to observe how humans cooked. So far he was very…impressed. The state of the kitchen was surprisingly organized. The ingredients were aligned in order for quick preparation. The tools needed were also organized in order they would be used. Yes, he would be watching some of his fellow sea creatures be prepared but hey, at least it wasn't _him_. Though, perhaps in sense of indifference had something to do with the fact that he was now a cat. Well, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious, as a chef mind you, to know what fish tasted like. Nodding, the cat gave his approval. Now, if only he could locate that crab-bastard before he was scooped up for dinner. He could've sworn he saw the idiot jump into this particular room.

"Ah-ha," cried Gilbert happily, "I found it! You don't mind if I sing you do, Kitty? Gilbird doesn't. It's actually one of his and mine favorite songs when making fish cause my old cooking instructor use to sing it when he was teaching me. He was French so…yeah you know how they are." Lovi did in fact know how they were. He shivered at the thought of the perverted French merman. He watched as Gilbird brought over a bowl of fish. "Les poissons, les poissons; how I love les poissons." Gilbert tied an apron around his waist to keep his pants clean before picking up a cleaver, "Love to chop and to serve little fish.  
First I cut off their heads." Lovi wasn't the only one watching. Rodrich's eyes widened in horror as the man continued to behead the tuna fishes. Unlike Lovino, he felt sympathy towards these fishes. Hell, he some of the members of his _orchestra_ were fishes.

The albino didn't noticed the blue crab and continued to clean out the fishes, "Then I pull out their bones, ah, mes oui, savez toujours delice." Gilbert yanked out the spine along with the fishes tiny ribs and tossed them aside much to Rodrich's disgust. The merman brought his claw over his mouth. Oh, he was going to be sick! "Les poissons, les poissons, kesesese, kesesese~ with a cleaver I hack them in two!" Rodrich couldn't handle it anymore. Taking advantage of the albino's distraction he made a dash for the other end of the table only to screech to a halt when one of the fish's heads landed right in front of him.

"I pull out what's inside and I serve it up fried," Gilbert sang as he pulled out the meat and tossed it into a readied pan. When they were cooked to his satisfaction, he tossed them onto a platter. Picking up a single piece he offered it to Lovino, "God, I love little fishes, don't you?" Rodrich watched in horror as Lovi ate it right up with a content purr. That cannibal! The traitor! He'd probably eat him too if he got the chance. Rodrich's violet eyes caught sight of a leaf of lettuce and he immediately pulled it over his little blue body. Walking ever so subtly he tried to walk past the still singing chef.

Gilbert smiled as he thought about what he was going to make for his father. Wolfgang did always love his grilled tuna steak. With that in mind he picked up a freshly cleaned fish, "Here's something for tempting the palette. Prepared in the classic technique. First you pound the fish flat with a mallet." Rodrich jumped when a heavy mallet came down onto the counter accompanied by a sickening squishy sound that was no doubt the sound of meat being tenderized. He quickly covered himself again with the lettuce leaf and started to tremble in fear as he heard all the dreadful things this so called chef was doing. "Then you slash off their skin, give their belly a slice, then you rub some salt in 'cause it makes it taste nice." Gilbert set the prepared fish onto the searing pan before turning to pick up the discarded lettuce leaf.

"Look it, Gilbird," gasped the albino chef when he saw Rodrich. "It's a blue crab! Oh, I bet Mattie will be so surprised when he lifts up his platter and sees this beauty on his plate! I bet he'll be grateful too and give me bunches of grateful kisses tonight! But I wonder…" He picked up Rodrich by his shell, much to the merman's terror, "Mein Gott, what is this? How on earth could I miss such a sweet little succulent crab?" He dangled it in front of Gilbird then at Lovino, who had been grooming himself after eating that bit of fish. Lovi's eyes widened when Rodrich sent him a look that he took as 'HELP-ME!'. Gilbert took a moment to look at the crab; it _was _a rather beautiful crab. The coloring was completely different from any blue crab he's ever seen and for a brief second he could almost feel a kinship to the creature. He himself had a unique coloring to his person. Then he thought about all the gloriously wonderful things he and Matthew could do after dinner. The things _his Birdie_ would do in show of gratitude for such a beautiful meal. Flushing at the thought he looked at the crab once more. Kinship or naughty sexy time. Guess what won in his mind.

"Quel Domage, what a loss, here we go, in the sauce!" Gilbert tossed Rodrich into a bowl of sauce." A bro would totally do this if it meant his bro would get some action. Plus this particular bro was dead so it was a win win situation. Right? Not giving it another thought, the albino grabbed a bowl of flour, "Now some flour I think just a dab," he didn't notice that Rodrich sneezed after getting powered with flour. "Now I stuff you with bread, don't worry, 'cause you're dead!"

'No, I'm not you crazy, fish-killer,' screamed Rodrich mentally. He pushed out the stuffing from his shell, begrudgingly admitted actually _did_ taste rather nice and looked over his shoulder. Where was Lovino?! "And you're certainly lucky you are," continued Gilbert, oblivious to the live creature he had in his hands, "'Cause it's gonna be hot in my big silver pot! Tout-aloo mon poisson, Auf Wiedersehen!"

Rodrich screamed in terror as he was tossed over Gilbert's shoulder and made a parabola towards the pot of boiling water. He saw Lovino out of the corner of his eye as the merman, still a cat, batted him out of the air. The crab landed right next to the pot and gave a yelp of pain when a bubble of hot water popped, landing right onto his back, immediately washing off the sauce and flour he had been coated in. Lovino grabbed him but he too got splattered by water and sent Rodrich soaring back onto the counter next to Gilbert.

The albino stopped chopping carrots and looked over to his left. Didn't he just prepare this thing and toss him into his pot for dinner? Picking up a two pronged fork, he picked up Rodrich to bring him closer to his face for an inspection, "What is this?" Rodrich stared into Gilbert's red eyes. That's it! Like hell if he was going to go through all that 'preparation' again. Opening his claws, Rodrich secured him around the albino's nose and squeezed hard. "OW!" Gilbert released Rodrich and brought his hands over his throbbing nose. Gilbird flew up to his perch in time before his master reached out for the blue crab, which had chosen to stand on the handle of pan containing a very bubbly hot sauce. Perhaps it was the pain in his throbbing nose or perhaps it was the heart break of a fellow 'bro' coming back to life and ruining his chances of having his Birdie in his bed to cuddle with. Whatever it was, Gilbert was clearly not in the right of mind when he reached out for that crab. Rodrich jumped out of the way just before the pale hand could reach him. Gilbert gave a pained cry when he missed and he touched the still lit stove. The pan fell from the force Rodrich used to jump off making the sauce spilled all over his leg and the iron pan fell on to his foot. "Verdammt," he yowled in pain and anger as he jumped on one foot.

Clutching his hand to his chest, Gilbert turned around in time to watch the little blue crab run away from him. With his good hand, he reached out for his set of knives and tossed them all with dead accuracy, only the little bastard was too fast and ran under the counter. Lovino watched as the Albino grabbed his cleaver. "You little shit! I'll show you," he growled angrily, "No one does that to the awesome me!" Lovi took pity on his friend and jumped onto the counter to drop the bowl of sauce onto the white haired man's head, giving Rodrich a chance to run away. Gilbert didn't notice this little show of assistance however. Standing still for a total eight seconds, that's what Gilbird counted, he let out an enraged growl and sliced his cabinet in half. With a near psychotic grin he looked around for the damn crab. "What the hell? I could've sworn the little bastard ran down he-" A flash of blue caught his eye. Turning around he saw the crab running for his life. Wa-was it screaming? God he hoped so, the little shit. He _should _be scared of the awesome Gilbert! He tossed his cleaver, blocking the crab's path. Rodrich quickly ran the opposite direction and under Gilbert's legs. The albino, now armed with a mallet, grinned wickedly when he saw that Rodrich had ran to the cabinet where all the fine china was. Rodrich watched in horror, with wide eyes, as Gilbert gave out a loud battle cry. And with his weapon of choice, a mallet, raised above his head, the albino charged at his prey, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Back in the dining room Ludwig had accepted the fact that his arm, apparently, now belonged to the strange man and continued to stare at him. Alfred himself couldn't keep his eyes off of Arthur, feeling a strange sort of attraction that he had thought he only felt with the man who had saved him. They were brought out of their dreamy confusion when they heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Wolfgang bit his lip to keep from chuckling when he heard his son's loud cussing. Whatever had happened sure was pissing him off enough to voice his frustrations in German. Matthew stood up but Elizabeta quickly coaxed him back into his seat, "No, dear, let _me_ go see what that idiot is up to." The young prince nodded and did what she asked. Only, he felt like he had signed his lover's death sentence in allowing Elizabeta to go see what happened. They winced when they heard more things breaking. The Hungarian however simply growled in annoyance and brought out her frying pan that no one dared, not even Wolfgang for he knew it was a trick his own wife taught the girl at an early age, question.

Taking advantage that Gilbert was busy destroying his own kitchen, Lovino took Rodrich's shell into his mouth before jumping onto one of the plates on a tray and covered them with the platter lid. Poor Gilbert. Gilbird watched in half amusement and half pity when he saw what the cat did. Looking back at his poor master, he took in the man's appearance. Somehow in the whole ordeal he had lost one of his boots. His pants had burn wholes and his apron was shredded. The white shirt he was wearing had a sleeve ripped off at his shoulder and was stained with various sauces and other things he had broken. And he had somehow received a black eye. "Come out you little pipsqueak and fight like a man," he growled while punching the air in frustration.

"Gilbert!"

"Oof," grunted Gilbert when he hit his head on the counter. He winced when he saw a fuming Elizabeta glaring at him, frying pan in hand.

"What are you doing?!"

"Lizzy! I-I- well, I was just-uh…"

"I'd totally beat this pan over your head but I can tell that whatever you were trying to cook clearly hand your ass over to you," she said smugly while picking up the tray of lidded plates. She started to laugh, "I can't believe that the _oh so awesome_ Gilbert Beilschmidt was bested by a crab. Wait till Matthew hears about this." Elizabeta chuckled as she made her way back out to the dining hall.

"No! Please, Eli, don't tell Birdie!"

Matthew sipped from his wine glass and eyed Alfred, "You know, brother, perhaps our guest might enjoy seeing some of the sights of the kingdom." He put his bear down in time for Elizabeta to place down his plate of food. "Maybe you can take him out on a tour?" Matthew watched Alfred and the green eyed blonde exchanged shy flirtatious smiles. The younger prince bit back a giggle but his brother had heard him.

"Sorry, Mattie, what was that," asked Alfred as he smoothed out his napkin onto his lap.

"I think what the young prince is trying to say," said Wolfgang in between bites of his favorite tuna steak, "Is that you shouldn't spend your time moping around." He took a drink from his son's beer stein much to the latter's dismay, "you should get out, Alfred. Same goes for you, son." While the Matthew watched as Wolfgang gave his brother and Ludwig a speech about not wasting their youth, he lifted lid off his plate. Arthur was quick to notice his wide eyed caretaker and a pissed off Lovino. Lifting the lid off his own plate, he motioned for them to scurry over. He closed it quickly, making Rodrich smack his head against the silver lid before he even got a chance to enter, when Alfred turned to him.

"So what do you think?" Alfred took ahold of Arthur's hand in his and grinned excitedly, "Want to be shown around the kingdom by a hero?" Arthur chuckled silently and nodded enthusiastically.

Matthew grinned, "Wonderful! Now, let's eat before this crab wonders off my plate." Looking down he saw that all that was on his plate was a leaf of lettuce. "Aw."

* * *

Ludwig saw his father off later that night; Gilbert had locked himself in his bed room and absolutely refused to come out. The older German paused before getting onto his horse, "Ludwig?"

"Ja, Vati?" The younger blond suppressed a tired yawn.

"That boy really does remind me of someone I use to know."

"I know. I thought so too. But he isn't Feliciano. He's a mute and…and has legs. Feli didn't."

Wolfgang sighed and brought a hand to his son's shoulder, "Perhaps, then, this is a sign that you should move on. If I remember correctly, Feli wouldn't have wanted you to be alone and miserable for the rest of your life. Clearly this young man fancies you." The blonde's father winked and smirked mischievously, "And he's pretty easy on the eyes."

Ludwig groaned in embarrassment, "Vati, please. What if he comes back? What if he sees me happy with his look alike and thinks that I betrayed him?"

"That is a _big _if, son. Why are you going to deny yourself this chance at happiness?"

"I don't even know the guy."

"So? Why don't you go with Alfred tomorrow and give a tour to your guest as well? I'm sure that would be plenty of fun."

The younger blond rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know…"

Wolfgang patted his son gently on the shoulder, "Yes, you do, Luddy. Give him and you a chance. Who knows, you might actually find that you could love this boy just as much if not more. Now, I best get going. The ship will leave without me."

"Please. A ship can't leave without her captain. Have a safe trip, Vati!" He waved at his father as the older blonde ushered his horse towards the docks. He closed the door and made his way upstairs to his room, "Love?" He couldn't deny that he felt an attraction towards the mute brunette but, "could he really make me happy?" Ludwig stopped when he saw that the man who had claimed ownership of his arm during dinner was happily petting Aster. The golden retriever was wagging her tail happily as the man gave her a belly rub. A soft smile found its way to the blonde's face. 'Well,' he thought, 'Maybe he could.' Clearing his throat he approached his guest, "Uh, er, excuse me?" Feli looked up with a smile. He jumped into Ludwig's arms in a hug, flustering the young German. "Y-yes, hello to you too. I-uh-I was wondering if…if y-you, that is to say if you aren't busy tomorrow." Ludwig mentally slapped himself. Of course the man wasn't going to be busy! He just got here for crying out loud. "I-f you weren't busy, w-would you like to accompany Alfred and his guest on the tour around the kingdom. W-would you like to do that but…with _me_ as your…guide?" There. He asked. Now all he had to do is wait for- Ludwig blinked when he felt soft lips on his cheek. His skin began to tingle from where Feli's lips were placing gentle kisses. "I-is that a yes?"

Feli grinned and nodded happily. 'What else would it be, silly?'

Ludwig returned the grin with a sigh of relief, had he really been holding his breath? "Gut, excellent. I'll see you in the morning then. Oh and my room is that one over there. I usually keep my door locked but if you ever need anything, feel free to stop by. My door will always be open for you." Nodding to himself, completely pleased that he took this first step forward. Oh? The man was still staring at him expectantly. Ah! "Well, good night then." Ludwig leaned down and gave his guest a hug before returning to his room with Aster close behind.

* * *

Elizabeta placed the blue crab on her vanity and gently petted his little head. "So, _you're_ the one who made such a ruckus in the kitchen." She gave a little giggle. "Don't worry I won't hurt you. Actually, you should be lucky that I saw you before anyone else did at dinner. Gilbert would've thrown you right back into that pot!" Rodrich shuddered at the thought. "Oh! But you're all dirty. I know; I'll give you a little bath, yes? Come on." The Hungarian woman picked up Rodrich gently and skipped to her large bath tub where the water had already been drawn up. "Just settle in, I'll be right back, ok?"

When he could see that she had left the room, Rodrich changed back into a merman and heaved a heavy sigh, "My word, what a day." The water felt surprisingly nice on his tired muscles so he allowed himself to indulge in the momentary moment of peace. His tail peaked out from under the bubble, the dark scales contrasting with the white suds. "What am I doing?! I can't stay here; I need to go find Arth-Oh sweet starfish!" He stared at the naked woman before him just as Elizabeta stared at the merman before her. A heavy blushed worked its way onto their cheeks. "Um, please don't scream," pleaded Rodrich. But he didn't have to ask her for such a thing. The woman was so shocked that her eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she fell onto the floor, her shaggy carpet softening her fall.

Rodrich jumped out of the tub and dragged himself over to the unconscious girl, "A-are you ok Miss?" He pressed two fingers at the side of her neck and sighed in relief when he felt a pulse, "Oh, thank Poseidon!" The merman tried his best not to stare at her nude form but curiosity got the best of him, "Huh, so they really _aren't_ all that different from mermaids." In a later time he would blame instinct for what he did but now, now he ran the pad of his index finger over the fainted woman's eye brow before curving it in order to brush her cheek bone. And, oh my! What lovely lips she- NO! Shaking his head in effort to erase his blush he looked around for something to cover her with. There. Rodrich reached out and grabbed a large fluffy white towel and draped over her form before shrinking back into a crab and scurrying out the room. Feli! Thank goodness! The blue crab reached out to nudge Feli's pant leg.

The brunette merman leaned down, his hand extending so that Rodrich could climb aboard before continuing his way to his and Arthur's shared bedroom.

* * *

Arthur stood on the balcony, now changed in a long white night shirt. He rested his head gently on his fist and watched as Alfred played with Max on along the beach. The large cat could surprisingly play fetch and wasn't afraid of getting into the water. "He probably thinks he's a hero just like his master," mouthed Arthur to no one in particular. Today had been wonderful and the joy he had felt was totally worth those few moments of discomfort and pain during the transformation. The merprince blushed when Alfred caught his eye. The blonde had been twirling with his massive cat, laughing happily when he felt eyes looking at him.

'He caught me staring… what do I do?!' Arthur began to panic but was immediately soothed when the Alfred sent him a friendly wave and a wink. Arthur melted. Truly this human was perfect. The merman returned the wave before turning in for the night. Feli walked into their room just as Arthur was running the dinglehopper through his blond hair.

The brunette merman placed Rodrich on the bedside table, giving him a gentle pat on his head, before removing his clothes until he was down to his undershorts. Clothes were nice and all but goodness did they feel constricting. Lovino was curled up in a ball, already fast asleep on one of the fluffy pillows on the bed much to Rodrich's annoyance. "This has got to be without a doubt," started Rodrich, "the single most _humiliating_ day of my life. I hope you appreciate what I go through for you young man." Arthur gave his caretaker a gentle kiss on his head. "Ja ja. Don't bother trying to butter me up." Rodrich watched as Arthur pushed down on the bed with his hand before jumping onto it. The mattress immediately swallowed his weight.

"It's so fluffy," mouthed the blond merman in amazement, jumping up and down a few times before throwing himself further into the warm bed. "And comfy too!"

Rodrich nodded in understanding. "We should work on getting Alfred to kiss you tomorrow. You're going to have to look your best…perhaps, you should do what Emma does and bat your lashes like so." The older merman batted his dark eyelashes making Feli giggle as he too settled in the bed next to his friend. "Pucker your lips like this," he demonstrated that too but it was lost on his prince. Exhaustion had finally caught up to him and he was fast asleep, his arms loosely tossed around Feli's torso. Rodrich rolled his eyes but smiled fondly at the two sleeping boys. Lovino had rolled on his back and was snoring softly. "You guys are really hopeless," he murmured softly giving all three of them a gentle pat on the head before settling next to Lovi. "Completely hopeless."

* * *

**So...all I'm getting from the lack of response is that this story sucks. I'm sorry. Thank you though to those who have followed my story and added it to their favorites. Also Thank you VivaAmerica and zoewinter1 for the reviews! They make me happy lol ^_^ Also, I really like Wolfgang in this. He's much nicer than he was in my other story right? Figured that Prussia could've inherited his personality from him in this. Also, this chapter was seriously too long (and that's that I didn't include everything I wanted to) I was going to cut it in half but my sister advised me against it.**

**Well, thanks again for reading. Until next time.**


	7. Kiss the Guy

**Nodrics make an appearance **

**Denmark/Mathias-25**

**Norway/Lukas-22**

**Iceland/Emil-15**

**Mention of**

**Sweden/Berwald-28**

**Finland/Tino-27**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

A shy hand gently knocked on a certain albino's door. Nothing but a grunt and a miserable sounding 'go away' made it through. Matthew sighed and let himself in anyway, "Gill?" Gilbert was lying belly down on his large bed while still wearing his ruined clothes. "Oh, Gill." The young prince sat on the edge of his lover's bed, running his nimble fingers through the snowy hair, "Lizzy told me what happened in the kitchen. Don't worry we aren't mad at you. Those dishes were old anyway." Gilbert grunted sadly but kept his face buried in his pillows. "You know I don't think any less of you, right?" Matthew stopped combing his fingers through his lover's hair and brought his ear closer to make out what Gilbert had mumbled, "I'm sorry, Gill, I didn't catch that."

Gilbert sighed and rolled on his back, mentally wincing when he heard Matthew sharply intake a breath. No doubt he was surprised to see the state of his front half, "I said I love you."

"I love you too," responded the blond with a smile. "Even if you did get hurt by a," he giggled, "by a crab."

"Birdie," groaned the albino, bringing his injured hand to cover his face.

Gentle hands to the injured hand into theirs in order to dress the burns. Matthew looked at the albino with a fond smile, "You know, just because a crab outsmarted you doesn't me you still aren't awesome."

"Who are you kidding, Birdie. It means exactly that." Gilbert's face darkened, "I swear when I find the little bastard I'm going to personally eat him."

Matthew ignored the threat and moved on to dab some ointment to his black eye. How a crab managed to do that was beyond him. "Everything else was pretty tasty," he continued. "Your dad really liked that tuna steak you made him."

"What about our new guests? Did they like the crab?"

The blond stopped with a pondering frown. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think they even touched their crabs. They just ate the lettuce and spinach around the pate."

"…That wasn't spinach. That was garn-oh god they ate the garnish?!" Gilbert turned on his belly again to hide his hurt ego.

"Now now, Gil, maybe they're allergic to shell fish. And m-maybe they thought the garnish you made looked so good that they couldn't help themselves."

Gilbert rolled back over and pulled his little love so that they could cuddle. "Thanks, Mattie. You always know what to say to me." He felt Matthew's cheeks warm at the compliment and he bit back a chuckle. They stayed in comfortable silence for a few moments. "Hey, Birdie?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think that blond kid and his little friend are going to be good for our brothers? I mean, do you think that Alfred will really fall for the guy?"

"Maybe. I hope so. Wouldn't it be nice if they did?" Matthew giggled suddenly and kicked his legs on the bed giddily, "It would be _so_ awesome if Alfie and Luddy do fall in love with them. Then we can all be happy."

"Kesese~ you're too cute. Though I think you may be spending too much time with Elizabeta."

"Maple?"

* * *

Feli rolled over in his shared bed. He smiled when he heard his brother snore loudly from the movement and Arthur rolled over to his other side, freeing Feli from his hold on him. Taking this chance, the brunet merman snuck out of the bed and out the bedroom. 'Now, which one did Luddy say his bed room was,' he thought to himself. 'Ah! There it is." Feli skipped over to Ludwig's door and reached out for the door knob but hesitated. 'Will he really be ok with this?' Thinking back to what his German told him he smiled and opened the door slowly. He blushed as he approached the sleeping blond. As carefully as he could he slid into the bed and curled up next to his love, tensing for a moment when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and pull him in.

"Guess you couldn't wait to take me up on my offer, huh." Feli moved around so that he could see Ludwig. The blond was staring down at the man in his arms. "Well, I _did_ say you could come in whenever you wanted didn't it?" He chuckled tiredly when Feli gave him a timid nod and settled back down in his covers, pulling the merman close. "Gut nacht," he grumbled with a yawn, "See you in the morning."

"Sweet dreams, Luddy," mouthed Feli as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to enter the world of dreams.

* * *

Atlantica seemed so bleak without his friends and little brother around. Kyle sat on his brother's throne while Robert sat on the throne room's window sill, head leaning against the wall and eyes drearily looking out into the vast sea. He could vaguely make out Susan, the blue whale matriarch, and her family in the distance. A sad smile made its way to his lips when he saw the smaller whales chase each other playfully. No doubt they were her children, brother and sister perhaps. If only-

"Your majesties," called Toris softly. The king rushed down from his perched and looked at his herald expectantly. "I'm sorry, sir. We've searched everywhere. There's no sign of your brother or Rodrich. Nor the Vargas brothers."

"Well keep looking, Toris." Robert rubbed the golden cuffs on his wrists worriedly. "Have everyone available guard look for them."

"Your majesty, if I may. They're really tired. They've only just returned and-"

"Toris. I don't care if their fins are about to fall off, we _need_ to find them. Tell them to check under every shell, to explore every coral reef. Let no one in this kingdom rest until my baby brother is found"

The brunette merman sighed tiredly but nodded all the same. "As you wish, your majesty." The two brothers watched the herald swim away to relay Robert's orders to Atlantica.

"Don't take your frustrations out on them." Robert looked at Kyle incredulously but the young blond stared back without fear. "And don't look at me like that; I'm not the one who drove them away. Lovino and Feliciano, they don't have to come back if they don't want to."

"But Arthur does. He needs to," answered Robert, biting back tears. "I _need_ him to. I-" He sank down to the floor and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Poseidon. What have I done." Kyle stared at his brother. His older brother; the sole wielder of the Triton and ruler of the seven seas and everything in between. Getting up from the throne he slowly swam towards his sobbing brother and held him in his slender arms. For once he could do the comforting. And for the second time, Robert allowed a younger sibling to hold him.

* * *

Arthur's nose twitched in his sleep. Something was off. Where was the random bubble that brushed his face when a fish would use his window as a short cut? Where was the gentle current that would brush through his hair? Arthur awoke with a start, "Where the bloody hell am I?!" He had tried to swim out of his bed but instead met the cold hard ground with blankets wrapped around his legs. It took him a moment, and the sun caressing his face, to remember that he couldn't speak and that he had legs. "So it wasn't a dream," he mouthed with a happy grin. He looked around his room and saw that Lovino was lounging by a patch of sun while Rodrich crawled under the sheets when Elizabeta brought out clothes for Arthur.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she said cheerfully as she laid out a fresh pair of light colored pants and a cotton long sleeved shirt. "Do you need help dressing, dear?"

'No, I think I've got it.' Arthur shook his head. He slipped on the pants and pulled on his shirt, though he did struggle a bit with the folding the collar back. Elizabeta giggled and fixed it for him. Then she pulled out a light green vest to go over his shirt but decided that he would look cuter if she just left that open.

"Here, it's going to be warm out so let me roll up your sleeves." Arthur nodded and held out his arms. "You know," started the Hungarian while she finished up the left arm, "I was looking for your friend so that I could give him his clothes but I have no idea where he went. You don't know do you?"

"He was with me." Arthur and Elizabeta turned to the door when they heard Ludwig speak. "I think he got lonely or," he cleared his throat in effort to keep his blush down when both inhabitants of the room exchanged knowing smiles. "Right, well. We'll be leaving in a ten minutes. Will you have them ready by then, Lizzy?" Feli skipped inside from behind Ludwig and pulled on a pair of pants and a black shirt with a blue vest.

"Well, he certainly seems eager for your date, Ludwig." Elizabeta giggled but nodded to the blonde's request. "Of course, they'll be down in a few." Ludwig nodded stiffly and left the room to find Alfred.

"Good bye, you guys," shouted Gilbert from the door way alongside Matthew and Elizabeta. "Have fun!" He and Elizabeta did a double take when they saw a flash of blue crawl on Arthur's shoulder. Elizabeta immediately blushed when she remembered the incident from last night that involved a blue crab and a sexy merma…no. Not sexy, he was drop dead gorgeous! Gilbert on the other hand narrowed his eyes. The little bastard was going to ruin his baby brother's date. But before he could run after them, the carriage had already taken off.

Giddiness. That's what it was. Arthur was full of giddiness with every new sight and smell he came into contact with. The carriage ride into town had been…interesting to say the least. Arthur had all but fallen out of the moving vehicle when he had spotted a cute fox. Alfred did a double take when he noticed Arthur had his rear in the air while his head was dangling over the carriage in effort to observe how the carriage worked.

Chuckling he reached out with one hand and tugged him back, "Careful, dude. I don't want you to hurt yourself before the real fun starts." Arthur nodded cheerfully and took in his surroundings as they finally made it to town. Alfred jumped out and offered Arthur his arm, "Alright, Luddy, we'll go do our thing and you do yours." He paused and turned back to whisper to his friend, "And _please_ don't follow me around. I want to have some alone time with the dude."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and helped Feli down from carriage as well. "Please. I'm not here today as your body guard; I'm here on my own date. Besides," he looked after Feli , who had immediately ran up to a stray cat, with a grin, "I think I'm going to have my hands full with him. Have fun Alfred. We'll meet back here at say… two o'clock for lunch?"

"Fine by me, bro." Alfred took Arthur's hand in his only for the smaller blonde to drag him towards a puppeteer. "You like puppets? I do too and this guy is always funny. Matthew is a bit scared of them but-" Blue eyes blinked once when he noticed that his date had, in his excitement, removed the puppet from the puppeteer. He giggled as Arthur's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when the puppet had stopped moving. 'Huh. This guy acts like he's never seen anything like this,' thought Alfred when he gently took the puppet from Arthur and handed it back with an apology. 'What if he hasn't?' The prince looked at his companion sadly as thoughts of him being sheltered all his life plagued his mind. 'Welp, if this is his first time really seeing the world, then it's my duty as a hero to make sure he has the time of his life.'

"Come on," cried Alfred cheerfully, taking Arthur by the hand just as the young blond was about to reach out to touch the puppet again. "Let me show you what other stuff the village has!" Arthur giggled silently and gently squeezed the hand holding his.

They explored the rest of the town shop by shop, museum by museum. Alfred had made sure to spare no expense. He eventually took his date to a shop to pick up a few new outfits. "Not that you don't look cute in Mattie's old clothes," he said with a grin, "but I figure that you'd feel more comfortable in something that you can call your own." Arthur grinned but felt a little silly standing on a pedestal with his arms extended out and his legs positioned away from each other.

The seamstress finished taking his measurements and looked up at the blonde, "All done sir." She ran her hands along his pants to smooth out nonexistent creases. "Is there anything else, you'd like for me to measure."

Alfred's mouth dropped. Did she really just say that in front of me? An unreal sense of jealousy pulsed through his veins as he watched the seamstress bat her eyelashes at his date. Oh he would not stand for that. "Thank you, Miriam," muttered Alfred as he linked Arthur's arm through his. "Just send the stuff to the palace." Arthur blinked in confusion, not really understanding what happened but from what he could tell, his crush had gotten a little jealous. He giggled silently and allowed himself to be dragged into another store.

They walked out with a couple of bags and Arthur ran after a man pushing a cart filled with little trinkets, tugging along a chuckling Alfred with him. As they crossed over the bridge that connected one market square to another, Lovino poked his head out from the water, this time he was an angry looking duck, and called to Rodrich. "Have they kissed yet?" Rodrich shook his head from Arthur's shoulder making the merman scowl. "Damn."

On the other side of the village Ludwig took Feli to an art gallery when he noticed that the brunette was drawn to every mural and mosaic they stumbled upon. He watched through amused eyes at how quickly his date went from bouncy excited to thoughtful at every painting they looked at. 'Should I hold his hand,' he thought, eyeing the tanned hand sitting so temptingly near his. He blushed when Feli took it in his, offering only a cheerful grin. Ludwig returned it and allowed himself to be led out of the room. The sun shone brightly over the pair as they made their way back to the center, pausing only so that Feli could look at street artist paint. The young artist saw Feli's fingers twitch and offered him his paint brush with a flirtatious smile.

Feli ignored the smile, moving to dab the brush into some white paint then over the water in the painting instantly bringing it to life. Ludwig suppressed a jealous growl when he noticed the artist run his eyes down his date's body. "Come on," he grumbled, tugging on Feli's wrist. "I can buy you your own so you can paint back at the palace." Feli looked at him with wide eyes before jumping into his blonde's arms. "Er, your welcome." As they walked away Ludwig couldn't help but send a smug smirk over his shoulder to the artist staring after them.

The two blond princes sat at an iron filigree table waiting for their other two companions to arrive so that they could eat. All around them Alfred's subjects where whispering about their prince, everyone curious as to who this handsome mystery man was and wondering who he was to their beloved ruler. Alfred glanced over his menu to Arthur, "Are you having fun, dude?"

'Dude?' Arthur raised his head from under the table. He could of sworn he felt a body of feathers brush his leg. 'Oh, me.' The green eyed blond nodded.

"I'm glad." Alfred reached out to cover Arthur's hand with his. He wasn't completely sure why but holding the young blonde's hand made his heart flutter.

'Is he going to kiss me?' Green eyes watched blue as they seemed to come closer. And closer. And…the sound of Iron scrapping along the concrete sidewalk interrupted whatever moment he and Alfred were about to share. Really?! He glared at the intruders, stopping only when he realized it was only Ludwig and Feliciano. He raised a bushy eye brow when he noticed that his friend was wearing a sailor shirt. 'Had he been wearing that before?'

"Hey, Luddy," called Alfred. "Wasn't your dude wearing a black shirt when we left home?"

"He was." Ludwig picked up his menu and began to translate what the items were to his companion, not bothering to offer an explanation as to why he bought his date a new shirt. It was too embarrassing and he was positive that Alfred would never let him live it down if he knew that he punched the artist when he decided to get a little too friendly with his date. He had gotten paint all over his black shirt when the artist reached out for him as he was falling. Shaking his head to rid himself of that horribly embarrassing memory he smiled at Feliciano. "So, this place makes really good wurst but they also make nice pasta. Everything is made from scratch."

"Dude, they also make a mean pot of tea if you're interested." Alfred turned his attention back to his own companion. "I don't personally like tea but the kind they make here is awesome. I'll order us some so you can try it, k?"

As the group ate, Francis landed on a branch over the table next to Lovino. "Bounjour, mon ami. Has my little Arthur been kissed yet?"

Lovi grunted in annoyance. "No, not yet. They were but that potato bastard and my idiot brother interrupted them."

"Oh," Francis shifted his beady blue eyes to the two couples below him. "What a shame." The two mermen watched as Arthur stood up suddenly and grabbed Alfred by the arms when he heard music. "Hononon, one can't say the little prince isn't a go getter." Lovino suppressed a smile when he saw the two blonde princes' dance. His grin only grew when he saw Rodrich poke his head out of Arthur's pocket looking a little green from all the spinning.

Ludwig noticed Feli eyeing their movements with longing and coughed shyly to get his attention. "W-would you like to dance with…me?" Feli's eyes were warmed by how cute his German acted when he was embarrassed. Nodding once he accepted the outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled into a dance. He laughed silently as he watched his best friend dance beside him. Feli was happy to see Arthur so happy. Genuinely truly happy. Usually it ever happened when they would find human things but now…well now all it would take was a kiss from Alfred and then Arthur would always be happy.

The small group danced to a couple more songs before packing up their carriage with their purchases. Ludwig and Feli got in the back this time and Alfred took the reins of their carriage with Arthur at his side. They made their way through the rest of the kingdom; Alfred pointed landmarks every now and again. Ludwig noticed that his companion had pulled out his sketch book and had started to make little drawings of everything he saw. He smiled. The little man really did look cute when he had that look of concentration on his face. That looked quickly changed when the carriage quickly picked up speed and became a little…bumpy for lack of better words.

Alfred jumped from his seat and he momentarily regretted handing the reins for the carriage over to his companion. Arthur had looked at the reins in confusion, 'What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with-oh! It probably works just like Murphy's carriage and his seahorses.' Thinking that perhaps these land horses exactly like his seahorses, he brought down the leather reins a little too hard which startled the horses from a trot to a stampede. It was beyond exhilarating. From behind him he could vaguely make out Ludwig screaming in terror as they approached a cliff but with focused eyes and a well-timed tap on the horses rear they made it across safely. The prince stared at the green eyed blonde in wonder before looking back at the jump they just took then back at him. "Holy shit, that was awesome," he cried happily. "Wasn't that awesome, Luddy?!"

"J-ja." Ludwig looked a bit shaken up but Feli was giggling silently as he comforted the larger man. Good thing they didn't give _him_ the reins. If Ludwig thought Arthur's driving was bad, he probably didn't want to be in the same carriage as him when he was driving. Alfred leaned back with his arms behind his back as they continued down the path. The sun had begun to set by the time they arrived to Alfred's favorite spot in his entire kingdom. Ludwig offered to stay by the carriage with Feli while Alfred and Arthur took a boat ride along the pond.

"You sure, man?" Alfred helped Arthur into the small boat. Truth be told he didn't even know why he was asking. As close as he and the taller blonde were, he really didn't feel like having him along while he and his date shared a romantic boat ride. Woah wait. Romantic? Glancing back at the man in his boat he blushed. Yeah, uh, huh…

"Ja, me and-uh…we'll be fine. Won't we, engel?" Ludwig took Feli's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling a little too proud of himself for coming up with a quick nickname for the man next to him whose name he had yet to learn. Alfred picked up on this knowledge and smirked.

"Angel, huh? Nice save, dude; can't believe you don't know your date's name." He settled down across from his own date and watched as his childhood friend gently pushed the boat further into the water.

"Right, because you totally know _your_ date's name right?"

Alfred was about to retort but he froze as soon as he opened his mouth. Ludwig was right. He didn't know his date's name. He'd just been calling him 'dude' the entire day. Well, he'd change that. A hero didn't go around calling their crushes…I mean dates 'dude' all the time. Alfred blushed again as he rowed them further down the pond. Arthur was taking in every detail with an appreciative smile and he found that very endearing. He was so engrossed in watching his companion watch his surroundings that he missed the 'plop' sound of something jumping into the water.

"So, have they kissed yet," asked Lovino as he lounged next to Francis on a rock. He flicked his tail back and forth passively.

"Do you really think it's wise for you two to be in those forms with humans so close?" Despite his words, Rodrich changed back into his merman form with a sigh of relief. "I don't know how you do it day in day out, Francis. Oh, my shoulders are killing me."

"Psh and you asked _me_ why I'm in my form. It's been years since I've ever had to turn into anything and it's starting to get to me. Now are you going to answer my question or not, Roddy?"

Rodrich sighed again and shook his head. "But I think we can get them to kiss if we set the right mood."

"Well hold on now," interrupted Francis. He placed down his mirror to look at the other two mermen. "Let's give them a chance first. Maybe they can work this out on their own." They quickly turned back to their respective animals, Rodrich a crab, Francis a bird, and Lovino a cat when they heard the gentle lap of water against wood as Arthur and Alfred made their down the pond. "Or not."

"Move over you perverted bastard, I can't see anything!" Lovi growled in annoyance and moved a bit closer to see.

"Mon ami, what exactly are you trying to see. There isn't anything _to_ see." Francis let out a puff of air in disappointment.

"Somehow that sigh of disappointment sounded dirty to me," muttered Rodrich.

"How can a sigh even sound dirty? Wait, don't answer that."

"Honhonhon~ are you sure, Lovi? Maybe I can show you inste-OW!"

"Shut up the both of you," hissed Rodrich in annoyance. He rolled his eyes at his companions as Lovi chewed on Francis's head and continued to observe his charge. "Honestly," he muttered. "Arthur only has one day left and that human hasn't puckered his lips yet. Well, he almost did but-"

Lovi released Francis's head and growled angrily, "But that potato bastard my idiot brother is fawning all over interrupted it. Speaking of which where are they? Why aren't they in the boat?"

"Right, because having two more people on that tiny thing is the epitome of romance."

"Cut the sarcasm, Roddy. I'll be right back. I need to go make sure my brother isn't being taken advantage of."

"Oh, leave him alone will you. We need to focus on getting Alfred to kiss Arthur. Remember? That kiss also effects what happens to Feli." Grumbling in defeat, Lovi settled back down.

"You know what this needs? Some romantic vocal stimulation." Both cat and crab turned to stare at the seagull in disgust. "I mean singing, mes amis. Really, and you say _I'm _the perverted one." He cleared his throat and flew up to a branch close to the couple on the boat. "Now listen, this is the mating song of my fellow birds. It's quite lovely Rodrich, I think you'll find it quite stimulating." Rodrich seriously doubted that. "Wa, wa, wa, wa-wa!"

Arthur tore his gaze away from the foliage and looked around him. 'Where the- who is singing that awful song? It sounds like,' his eyes darted to the tree above him and they twitched when he saw who it was. Francis winked and gave him a thumb up sign as best as he could with wings.

"Dude," said Alfred through a laugh, "someone should totally find that poor thing and put it out of its misery."

If Arthur didn't know he loved the man before him before, he sure as hell did now. The merman offered a weak smile while sending his best threatening glare to Francis. 'Blasted Frog is ruining this romantic ride with his dreadful singing! I swear when I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-' Francis let out a pained squawk when Lovino pounced on his body. "Thank Poseidon for Feli's loud mouthed brother," muttered Arthur silently while running a hand down his face. He peaked through his fingers and blushed when he noticed Alfred staring at him. Cocking his head in confusion, he asked a silent question, 'What?'

"Sorry, dude. It's nothing." Alfred quickly looked away with a blush of his own, something he noticed he'd been doing a lot of since this mystery guest of his washed ashore…and somehow into his heart. 'But it can't be,' he thought to himself as he continued rowing. 'I love the guy who saved me…don't I?'

"Wa, wa, wa, wa-wa!" Francis started 'singing' once again after he managed to get Lovino off of him. He smirked. All he had to say was Ludwig and groping and Lovino had literally grown wings to save his baby brother from that 'perverted potato bastard'.

Rodrich groaned in annoyance, claws blindly reaching out for a rock, before he threw it at his idiotic friend. Francis managed to dodge it and for once, the brunet merman suddenly felt a wave of compassion for Gilbert and his ego. He must've felt the same when _he_ was dodging everything the albino was throwing at him. Shaking his head he dove into the lagoon in search of something he could use as a baton.

"What's up with Francis, Roddy?" The blue crab looked up in surprise when he saw another merman under the water with him. Mathias gave him a lazy grin, "My family and I always come here for a vacation around this time of year," he explained. "It's a bit too chilly up there in the Nordic region and my brothers were complaining. What are you doing down here? Old Bobby finally got tired of your 'music'?"

The older merman scoffed, "Please. Need I remind you that he requested that I remove you from my orchestra because your music was, for lack of better words, lame."

"Hey! I resent that. So what if the king didn't care for my style. Emma did." He muttered the last part under his breath with a blush. "How is she?"

"She's doing fine. Her and her brother actually got a place- hey! I don't have time for small talk. I need to go set the mood for Arthur."

"The what for who? Arthur? As in King Robert's baby brother?"

"Who else? He's on a date and he really needs…look it's a long story." Rodrich moved to go back to the surface but paused, "Say, you wouldn't mind helping me would you? I need people to play for me and you are familiar with the wild life around these parts aren't you?"

"…yeah?"

"Ok, what if you do this for me, no questions asked and I get you a date with Emma. It'll be easy to bribe Lars into letting her go out with you. I'll just give him first chair and that will be that."

"Really?" Mathias broke into a grin. "Heck yeah. I'll be right back." The merman dashed away, no doubt to get his instrument and round up a makeshift band. Rodrich could vaguely see the lion mark on his wrist. True to his promise, Mathias came back quickly with a viola at hand and a band of turtles, birds and other small creatures. Lukas and Emil came along as well, Lukas looking disgruntled and Emil looking curious. "Tino made me bring my little brothers too cause he and Berwald want to have some 'alone time'. Whatever _that_ means."

Lukas rolled his eyes, "He means that he and his husband are going to have se-"

"Shush, man. I know what he means," groaned Mathias, looking a bit pale. "I just don't want to wish I didn't." He turned back to his older merman companion and grinned, "Ok, Roddy. I've got, percussion." Lukas rolled his eyes again and fiddled with his small drum. "Strings," he played a melody on his viola, "Winds," Emil played on his flute. "Now we just need-"

Rodrich held out a hand. "Just be sure that you guys don't look like mermen. We need to get close enough for them to hear us. You guys play and I'll take care of the words." He led his makeshift band of mermen and animals closer to the small boat, where he saw his charge and his soon to be lover fiddling with their hands. "There you see him," he sang softly in Alfred's ear, "sitting there across the way. He don't got a lot to say but there's something about him. And you don't know why but you're dying to try, you wanna kiss the guy."

Alfred jumped up and looked around him. How did that person know he was contemplating on kissing the man before him? He was thinking out loud was he? He reddened up to his ears, "d-did you hear something, dude?" Arthur offered a soft smile and shrugged. Yeah he heard but he wasn't about to tell his love that his babysitter was trying to instigate a kiss. Not that he could tell even if he wanted.

"Oh, ok. Must be my imagination then. Just…just like that mystery man who saved me." Alfred looked away sadly before brightening up, "But hey, truth be told I'm kinda happy that he was just a figment of my imagination. If he were real then I would've married him but then…then," he let go of an ore to hold Arthur's hand, "then I wouldn't have been able to meet you. And I'm very glad that I did." 'But are _you_ happy that you came to my life,' he thought to himself.

"Yes, you want him," continued Rodrich. "Look at him, you know you do. It's possible he wants you, too. There is one way to ask him." There is? Alfred was about to turn again in the direction of Rodrich's voice but Arthur took the prince's cheek in his hand to keep him in place.

"G-golly your hands are soft," murmured Alfred leaning into the touch.

"It don't take a word, not a single word. Go on and kiss the guy," urged Rodrich. He watched as they leaned in closer, only for Alfred to suddenly pull back shyly. The elder merman sighed in disappointment but suddenly got an idea. Sticking his head back in the water he urged Mathias and his siblings, "Sing with me now."

One didn't have to tell Mathias twice he swam out, turning into a duck as soon as he hit the surface, followed by Emil and Lukas. "Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my. Look at the boy too shy, he ain't gonna kiss the guy. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it shame, too bad; you're gonna miss the guy."

Arthur leaned his back against the boat and brought his head to rest on his fist. 'This is taking too long,' he thought to himself. 'Does he not like me? Maybe this was a mistake after all.' He felt his heart clench painfully at the thought of Alfred not feeling as strongly as he did.

Alfred took notice of Arthur's pout and quickly panicked. "Um, are you ok, dude? Y-you seem a bit down." When he didn't get a response he tried paused in the rowing. "Is it because I've been calling you 'dude' this entire time?" The human prince looked down in shame, "I made a big deal to Luddy that he didn't know his date's name but here I am in the same predicament. At least he had the brains of coming up with something endearing…all I've been calling you is the generic 'dude.'" He pulled in the oars and scooted closer to his date, taking both of his hands in his. "You deserve better than that. Now I know you can't talk but how bout I guess your name. Does that sound good?" He grinned when Arthur's pout was replaced with a happy smile. "Ok, let me see. Is it Francis?"

"The hell?! No, you git! As if I share a name with that narcissistic frog," cried Arthur silently.

He wasn't quite sure what his companion was mouthing but Alfred couldn't help the bubble of giggles from escaping his mouth. He looked so cute when he was angry. Making a mental note to attempt to ruffle his companion's feathers more often, even if it was just to see how flushed his face got or to see his cute bushy eyebrows furrow. "Ok, ok. So it's not Francis. Um…how about David? No? Robert? Eric? Oh, I know! It's Tony. It's Tony isn't it? I use to have a friend named Tony but he-"

"For Poseidon's sake," grumbled Rodrich from his perch near Alfred's shoulder. "Arthur, his name is Arthur."

"Arthur," mumbled Alfred in confusion. 'Who is that talking to me? Is…is that my conscious?' He felt the a tug on his arms. "Huh? Arthur?"

"YES!" Arthur nodded frantically. "Yes, my name is Arthur!"

Alfred grinned and ran his hands up and down along Arthur's arms. "That's not a bad name. Kinda cute but I figured a cute guy would have a cute name." He cupped his companion's pink tinted cheek and looked into emerald eyes, "Okay. Arthur."

The couple was so engrossed with one another that they didn't notice that they were being pulled behind a curtain of green vines. The weeping willow was by far the favorite destination of all who came to the pond. Mermen, wild life, humans alike. Pleased, with how well they were doing so far, Rodrich continued his song. "Now's your moment, floating in a blue lagoon. Boy, you better do it soon no time will be better. He don't say a word and he won't say a word until you kiss the guy."

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la," joined in Mathias and his friends, "Don't be scared. You got the mood prepared  
Go on and kiss the guy. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't stop now, don't try to hide it how you wanna kiss the guy." Lukas flicked his wrist and a swarm of fireflies appeared out of thin air to provide some light for his prince and his lover. As an unmarked merman, he could see most bonds that united beings, despite their species. And right now he could bet money that the bond between Arthur and this human was almost as strong as the bond his brother, Tino, had with Berwald. "Sha-la-la-la-la-la, float along, listen to the song-WA, WA, WA, WA-W-" Emil and Mathias grabbed Francis's beak to shut him up as they continued to sing along with Rodrich, "The song says to kiss the guy. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, music plays do what the music says. You wanna kiss the guy."

Alfred nodded unconsciously. Yeah, yeah he did. He did want to kiss the guy. He held Arthur's hands a little tighter in his, 'I want to kiss you. Will you let me?' Alfred could feel his heart quicken in pace. "You've got to kiss the guy." Arthur's breath hitched in his throat as he leaned in. "Why don't you kiss the guy." Their eyelids lowered. "You gotta kiss the guy." Their noses were rubbing playfully against one another as Alfred placed a gentle hand on Arthur's neck, thumb tracing along his jaw line. Rodrich and company watched eagerly, Mathias shielded his perverted friend's eyes while Lukas covered Emil's. "Go on and kiss the guy!" The two princes' lips were so close now. Arthur could feel Alfred's slightly chapped ones teasingly close to his own as the parted slightly. So close. Just come a little closer…

"Woah!" Arthur clung onto Alfred as soon as his head popped out of the water. "Are you ok, Arthur?" The blond merman nodded, grateful that the water dripping from his hair masked the tears in his eyes. "It's ok, Artie. I've got you, love." Rodrich and his companions swore under their breath and were too upset with the turn of events that they didn't notice a pair of mermaids turn into lion fish.

Natasha and Natalya beamed when they heard their brother's whispers of approval in their minds. Ivan watched through their eyes with disgust. "That was a close one, girls. Too close. That little tramp is better than I thought he would be." He opened his eyes when his sisters swam past Feli kissing Ludwig, not at all interested in what that merman did. It wouldn't affect the contract no matter how much kissing he got done. But he couldn't deny that even the grandson of the great Romulus was proving to be a skilled player in the field of romance. "No, I can't have it. At this rate Arthur and his prince will be kissing by sunset. But how can I stop this from happening?" He swam out of his bed and paced back and forth. "Natasha. Natalya. Come back home this instant. I need you."

* * *

Ludwig pulled away for some air but kept his little lover close. He couldn't believe it was actually him. Or at least a form of incarnation of him. "Feli," he breathed. The little brunette snuggled against his chest releasing a happy sigh. It had been a little awkward at first, not knowing his name, but Ludwig had spent a good half hour naming all the names he could until someone shouted angrily, 'The idiot's name is Feliciano, you damn potato bastard!' He wasn't sure who it was or how they knew he enjoyed a good baked potato every now and again but as soon as the name was shouted his little date had bounced with happiness that he finally got his name right. One thing led to another and Ludwig found himself on the floor of the carriage. Only this time, instead of having been pounced, _he'd_ been the one who pounced.

Feli's amber eyes lit up when they pulled away the first time and had started to speak as if his life depended on it. Only to stop when Ludwig placed a finger on his lips. "Don't strain yourself, Liebling. I don't know why you can't talk but we'll figure something out." The blonde claimed the merman's lips once again only to pull away with a yelp. Lovino glared down at his brother and his lover through gold feline eyes. "Feli, isn't this your cat?" Lovi hissed at the German making Feli give him a soft tap on the nose. "He's a bit jealous isn't he?" Ludwig tried to pet Lovino but Lovi would have none of that. The little cat jumped on Ludwig's face and tried to scratch every inch of it.

"Fratello," cried Feli silently, following Ludwig out of the carriage. "Fratello, leave him alone!"

Lovi stopped attacking Ludwig when he caught sight of Arthur and Alfred's boat. Rodrich shook his head sadly from his perch on Arthur's shoulder. The cat fell limp, his tiny heart thumping in fear. They only had one more day. Not even…looking at the sky he determined the time. They'd only have eighteen hours to get this done or else…else he'd not only lose his prince to the sea beast, he'd also lose the only person he had left. His brother.

* * *

"You can't do this, big brother!" Natalya tried to stop her brother from adding ingredients into his cauldron. "I won't let you go through with it," she growled. Ivan paled as she advanced towards him. "You belong to me and only me. I WON'T LET YOU MARRY THAT HUMAN!"

"Silence, child," hissed Natasha. "Little brother wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think it was for the best. Let him work." The older mermaid pried the bubble containing a butterfly from her sister's grasp. "Do not interfere."

"You're going to let him kiss and touch that disgusting filth?! You're going to let him marry him?!" Natalya was past screaming at this point. She was downright screeching in anger, scaring the polyps far more than Ivan ever could if that were possible. Her eye zoomed in on other vials and bottles. Raising her fist to smash them a pale hand encased her wrist.

"You will not be doing that, Natalya," murmured Ivan. Through his calm demeanor, the young mermaid knew that her brother was beyond pissed. "I would like for you to leave."

A cloud of angry bubbles tickled the merman's face. He released his grip on his sister and she swam away from him and towards her sister. "I hate you," she muttered darkly. "I hate you so much! You think you can seduce Ivan by letting him do what he wants? This is ridiculous! He's going to get hurt and if he does I'm going to hurt you."

Natasha swam past her sister and straight into her brother's arms, "Then you must not love him as much as you claim. You don't seem to trust in his abilities. I do."

"Da, she does, little sister." With a tiny smirk, Ivan brought his arms tighter around his older sister's waist. "And I love _her_ for it." The merman didn't have time for this and he knew that if Natalya stuck around, not only would he never finish his spell but his work room would be destroyed to make sure he never completed it. With that in mind he did something that under normal circumstances would churn his stomach. He brought his lips to Natasha's neck to emphasize his preference and appreciation for his older sister's loyalty. Looking through his lashes, he met Natalya's eyes, "Leave."

The quiver in the young mermaid's lip didn't escape her older siblings. But they knew she had accepted defeat when she let her shoulders drop from their stubborn form. "Fine," she whispered angrily. "But I hope you know that I'm never coming back again." Glaring back at her smug sister she hissed, "I knew you were always his favorite. I just never knew why."

"Sorry for being the bewitching older sister," said Natasha cheerfully. They watched as the young mermaid swam out of their domain before going back to work. "Ivan, may I ask for something?"

"Da." Ivan tried not to meet his sister's eye out of embarrassment of what he did. 'I hope she doesn't think I want her in that way. Oh, Poseidon! Don't let her ask for my hand in marriage.' He paled as he continued to throw vials into his cauldron.

"May I turn into a human as well?"

He paused, "Why?"

"Well you have two voices. Let me use Feliciano's."

"Why," he asked again, though the look of dark mischief didn't escape him. She always did have twisted idea of what was fun and something told him that whatever she wanted was for her own amusement. With a kind smile he patted her head, "Well, if that is what you want. Then yes. You can come with me as well." He smirked into his cauldron, "We'll go up there then Robert's brother will be mine and then I'll make him writhe. He's going to regret banishing me, sister. I'll have Robert wriggle like a worm on a hook!" He swam into the golden cloud, pulling his sister in with him as the two cackled in sick pleasure at what they were going to do.

* * *

The group arrived back at the palace where they settled down for dinner, this time accident free. Matthew actually got to enjoy his crab and Gilbert didn't lose his cool. Arthur and Feli went to their bedroom to prepare for the night but Ludwig slipped a piece of paper into his hand before so, offering only a kiss to his temple and a smile as an explanation. Rodrich made sure to stay as far away from the insane albino chef and, regrettably, also from the sinfully attractive housekeeper.

As for Lovino, well, the older Italian merman retreated to the sea shore where he and Rodrich had dragged Feli and Arthur. He released a suffering sigh as he tried to relax against a rock. His olive fin flicked back and forth, relishing the feel of the warm salt water against his scales. Lovi leaned his head back to rest against the rock so that he could watch the stars. He would never tell but…he and Antonio would sometimes sneak out to the surface to watch the stars. It was beautiful. Oh how he regretted how he would treat him sometimes. Whenever the Spanish merman would want to hug or kiss in front of others he'd snap at him and sometimes even go as far as head butt him in the stomach. Lovi frowned as he thought back to ten years ago. Antonio had changed after a taking a two week long trip to the Adriatic Sea. He was more…manly and had developed stronger muscles. His whole persona seemed to have changed in his trip and, though Lovi had quivered from the touches of the new assertive and confidant Antonio, his heart broke at the possibility that he'd been the cause of such a drastic change.

"Damn it," he muttered through a familiar pain. Lifting his tail out of the water, he wasn't surprised to find a very familiar turtle biting onto his fin. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to be angry at the little creature. Not this time. So, instead of the usual cussing and foaming at the mouth, Lovi gently pried his fin from the turtle's mouth and held him against his bare chest. The turtle purred happily as it nuzzled against the olive branch under Lovi's collar bone. The merman brought a warm hand and rubbed the turtle's shell. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Lovi clenched his eyes shut in effort to keep his tears in but they found a way out. "Why did you leave me, stupid?! Why?" The turtle stopped purring and looked up at his master with sad eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you little bastard. I don't need you to pity me too."

Green beady eyes locked with Lovi as the turtle tried desperately to communicate with his master. Lovi sighed and brought the turtle back against his chest, "No matter how many times I yell, curse or even threaten you. No matter how many times I toss you out, you always come back. Why? Why couldn't Antonio do the same?" Sinking into the water, Lovi brought the turtle closer to his face, "And why do you have to have his beautiful green eyes? Don't you know every time I look at you I'm reminded of him?" Through his tears he could see the turtle sadden. "I love you, you little bastard. You know that don't you?" The little turtle nodded making Lovi smile. "You love me, don't you?" Again the turtle nodded, only this time it struggled in the merman's grasp trying to get closer. "Funny. It's almost like you want kiss. Do you want one, little one?" Not waiting for a response, Lovi placed a chaste kiss on the turtle's lips.

He pulled away suddenly, the turtle's shell heating up to the point he had to let go. Lovi's eyes widened but he brought an arm to cover them when a searing light overwhelmed his vision. "W-what the hell?!"

"Lovi?"

The Italian whimpered in response to his name. No way was he going to open his eyes. "Lovino?" A gentle tug coaxed the merman's arm away from his face. "Mi Tesoro lindo, perdoname." A kiss was placed on the nose. "Perdoname." A kiss was placed on both cheeks.

"Th-this isn't real," whispered Lovi. "This isn't-mmph," he was silenced by a kiss. Lips caressed each other as tongues slipped past each other in a long forgotten dance. When they parted Lovi brought them back together desperately.

"Mm-Lovi, please. Let me explain," pleaded Antonio when they pulled away again.

"Yeah, please do, Toni. Tell me who the fuck did this to you?" Lovi's eyes lowered to Antonio's wrist where a tiny mark in the shape of a sickle stood out against his olive skin.

"Lovino," Antonio murmured through tears, "it was my fault this happened. I went to Ivan because…because I wanted to be someone stronger. Someone better…for you."

"Che cosa? Better? Are you stupid? You already were good and strong. I didn't- you didn't-CHIGI!" Antonio recognized the signs so he braced himself for a head butt or the string of colorful words that usually followed his lover's expression. Only, none came. Instead he was pulled underwater in a hug. "You really are stupid," muttered Lovino, nuzzling his face in his lover's neck. "Wait." He pulled back and stared at his Spaniard in horror, "Ivan?"

"Si. He tricked me into signing this contract. Said that you and I would be very happy and all I had to do was bring him a sunflower from the surface, except that every time I tried, it would die." Antonio grabbed his lover's shoulders and with pleading eyes he begged. "Please forgive me, mi cielo. Please. I didn't mean to make you suffer all this time. I escaped from that beast as soon as I could. I tried, believe me I tried doing things that would make you recognize me. I even bit your tail the way you like it."

Lovi blushed in both anger and embarrassment, "S-stupid! It doesn't feel the same when you did it as a turtle. But never mind that," he raised them both to the surface. "Feli and Arthur made a deal with that insane bastard."

"What for?"

"It's a long story. But I'm sure you've been there for most of it."

"Sorta, I just remember you packing up because of what Robert did to Arthur's cavern and because he shot at Feli. Then I remember following as soon as I saw that you and Rodrich were racing to the surface with them. Ah and they have legs now. Are the legs Ivan's doing? What do they need to do for compensation?" Under the water their tails wrapped around each other in comfort as Lovi filled his lover in on the details. Antonio suddenly released a hiss of pain and brought his wrist to his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"The mark…it's burning." He showed his wrist to his lover so that he could see it glow an angry purple. "The bastard must be close by. He-oh no!" Antonio pressed the inside of his wrist to his body to and submerged both himself and Lovino under water.

"What the hell is going on, Tonio? You're scaring me." Lovi looked above him then back at his lover. "Tonio, tell me what is going on."

"It's Ivan. He's close. I think he-no wait, don't go up there Lovi!" Antonio reached out take a hold of the merman's shoulder but Lovi slipped out of his hold. The Spaniard followed, biting his lip to keep his groans of pain inside. "Lovi," he whispered. They looked over the boulder shocked at what they saw. At what they heard.

"That bastard," murmured Lovi, his eyes not leaving the vocalizing duo walking past them on the shore. "That bastard, that bastard, that bastard!"

"Lovino, keep your voice down!"

"Who does that bastard think he is?! And why the fuck are they using my brother's and Arthur's voice? Who even is that next to that sick bastard?"

"It looks like his sister. And it looks like they're heading to that castle over there."

* * *

Alfred sat on the edge of his balcony, his cat sitting on his head as he played on his flute. Their blue eyes watched the waves crash gently against the rocks below them. It had gotten a bit chilly so Alfred draped a cloak over his shoulders. His thoughts kept alternating between Arthur and the merman who had saved him. Arthur. He smiled gently at the thought of the man who had swum straight into his heart. "I was so close to kissing him today, Maxy," he murmured to his cat. Max meowed in response.

"Why didn't you?" Alfred brought the flute back to his lips and played the melody that wouldn't escape his memory. The melody his mystery man had sang to him when he in the brink of consciousness and not. Matthew sighed and hugged his brother from behind, "You know a dream boy of flesh and blood is better than one who was just a figment of your imagination. A warm and caring one and right in front of you." Alfred leaned back into his brother's chest in thought. "It's not often that guys like us get this lucky, Alfie. Arthur really likes you."

"I know, Mattie. I really like him too. Heck, I think I might even love him."

"Then don't let this slip through your fingers." Matthew petted Max before going back inside. Alfred looked up to where Arthur's window was and smirked. The silly blonde was running a fork through his hair again. Looking back at the flute in his hands he made his decision but if he could even move forward with it he'd have to let go of this pointless fantasy. He hopped back over to his balcony and tossed his flute into the sea. He winced when he heard an angry ow but brushed it off as his imagination.

"Well, Max, wish me luck. I'm going to go see Arthur tonight." The main coon meowed happily and hopped off his master's shoulder. Alfred followed after his cat but paused at the door when he heard a familiar voice. "Nah, it can't be. He wasn't real. He-" The blued eyed prince couldn't move inside, not when he really wanted to hear more. Rushing over to the rail he looked over, his heart all but jumping out of his chest. There he was! There was his mystery man, accompanied by another, though he couldn't tell if it was a man or woman. His vision was getting bleary but he couldn't stop staring at the figure. He couldn't help but feel so much desire for this person. He wanted him. He needed him. Now.

* * *

Ludwig finished lighting the last candle in his room and stood back to look at his handy work with a happy blush. He'd waited his whole life for this moment and the blonde could hardly contain his excitement. "Blackie, Aster, Berlitz," he called. His dogs looked up from their spots on the floor. "Go to Gilbert's room tonight. I need to be alone, ok?" The three dogs exchanged confused expressions but did as their master asked. A gentle knock at the door brought another wave of red to his face but he smiled never the less and opened the door as slowly as he could. When he saw who was at the other side his smile became confused.

"What's wrong, Luddy. Don't you remember me," purred a man with an Italian accent that was so very familiar to him. Ludwig took a step back and allowed the man with the strange curl on the side of his head to enter his room.

"Uh…should I?" The German watched as gold eyes stared into his own. He gulped when a dainty tanned hand ran across his smooth pectoral until it stopped at the iron cross necklace.

"You gave me one just like it, Ludwig. You promised we'd be together forever."

"Feliciano?"

"Si," replied the merman happily. "Did you miss me, amore? I sure missed you."

"B-but, Feli…I just spent all day with Feli. He's mute. He's got legs and-" He was silenced with a kiss. A part of him wanted to push away this strange man but another part of him kissed back. And kiss back he did.

"He must be an imposter, Luddy. There's no way a merman could lose his voice. Not without giving something in return," mumbled Feli against his lover's lips. "And what sane merman would do such a thing?"

"Then who is he? And most importantly how do you have legs? How did you find me?"

"Your love drew me to you. A kind gentleman let me in after I explained what you meant to me. And as for my legs, well, let's just say that a very special merman gifted them to me." He pushed away with a pout, "What's the matter Luddy? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I-"

"You don't believe I am who I am, do you?"

"Can you blame me?"

"What's it going to take?" The merman brought his hand to his chin in thought, finger tapping teasingly against his lip and Ludwig couldn't help but stare at it as it moved to and from. Snapping his fingers and Ludwig from his trance, the brunette smiled cheerfully. "I know! I'll show you."

"F-Feli…what," Ludwig licked his dry lips as his eyes followed the merman's fingers down his shirt. "What are you doing?"

The brunete haired man glanced up and blinked a few times before allowing his nimble fingers to continue unbuttoning the rest of his shirt until he was done with the last button. He pulled out his own iron cross necklace. "See, mio amore? I am who I say I am. Do you believe me now?"

"J-ja. I do." Ludwig eyed his lost love hungrily, his blush growing.

Feliciano sat back against the bed and opened his arms out in invitation with a smirk, "Then why don't you show me how much you missed me? How much you love me?" His smirk grew wicked when the German did just that.

* * *

**Oh, Germany...what are you doing?! **

**I'm sorry for the wait, hope it was worth it. You guys won't believe how annoyed I am right now with my results in my microbio lab. Grrr, curse you, you elusive bacteria strains! Anywho, left a bit of a cliff hanger didn't I? I'd like to thank everyone who has favorited the story and added it to their follow list. I also want to thank those who took the time to leave me a review. _They truly and honestly make me happy to see and read_.  
**

**Until next time~**

**VivaAmerica: I'm sorry! But I'm glad I could make you laugh lol. It means I'm doing my job ^_^**

**YaoiFanGirl:9211998: Thank you! Really, thank you for letting me know =3**

**VodkaPuppy: Thank you sweetie! Your review meant a lot to me and made me smile. I hope you continue to enjoy the story ^.^**

**Chocochino11: I'm glad to hear you do; I'm sorry it took forever for me to update. Usually I'm good with doing it at least once a every couple of days **

**zoewinter1: Ah, I'm sorry T_T. I'm going to try and restore his rep from the last story lol...or perhaps I should change his name all together. I was thinking Amadeus. **

**sallyatoyota****: lol yeah, that was my favorite part to write. Its actually my favorite part in the movie too. I can't help but laugh every time I see it and imagining Prussia chasing after Rodrich with the intent of cooking him made me giggle a bit too much lol. I'm glad you liked it ^_^ promise to make the updates faster, I'm already working on the next chapter.**

**Froggiecool: Thank you for letting me know. As embarrassing as it is, I know that sometimes I let errors slip past me no matter how many times I comb through my chapters. As a matter of a fact, I'm pretty sure I let a few slip by in this one. I figured that the story might be a bit predictable but I did slip a twist in there. =3  
**

**Lintunia: Lol Rodrich did have a rough time last chapter, but I'm glad you liked it. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. **

**elizabeta H. Austria: Thank you so much for the review!**


	8. The Third Day

**Ukraine/Natasha but in this chapter she will also go by Nathan**

**Also I don't think I gave these ages**

**Romano/Lovino: 28**

**Spain/Antonio:29**

**France/ Francis: 25**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

The scent of what they've learned was gardenias filled their bedroom. Elizabeta had been kind enough to draw up a bath for them before she took her leave. She had watched them carefully and even searched for the blue crab through their clothing but found no trace of it. Nor of the tails that she suspected sprouted if they were exposed to essence of that flower, something she figured would happen due to her recent experience with said blue crab. Pouting, she bid the two mermen goodbye and retreated to her room.

"I had a wonderful time today with, Alfred," mouthed Arthur as he dried off. Feli picked up his sketch book and pencil and offered them to his friend. Taking the hint, Arthur began to write animatedly. "He took me everywhere and bought me so many things, but my favorite parts where when he'd hold my hand and when I caught him staring at me!"

Feli read through the lines and smiled. He picked up another pencil to write his response. "I'm so happy for you! What happened at the lagoon? I sensed merfolk in the area."

"Yeah, I did too. It was Rodrich's former viola player, Mathias and his brothers. Wish I could've said hi to Lukas, he was a very good friend of mine back in elementary magic class. He and his brothers are magic prone mermen too but they had to leave because of Robert's decree. They didn't want to get sealed so they went up to the Nordic region."

"I see. Well what did they want?"

"I guess Rodrich and them were trying to set the mood for Alfred and me. That stupid frog Francis started screeching but Lovi put an end to it. Bloody tosser!" Feli giggled but motioned for Arthur to continue. "They sang a lovely song and Alfred almost kissed me…like his lips were so close to mine but we didn't get the chance because the boat flipped over." The merprince paused in his writing with a frown. Now that he thought about it how could the boat possibly flip over on its own?

Feli noticed the change in his friend's face so he gently took back his sketch book. "Artie? What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that maybe somebody flipped the boat on purpose. But who? And most importantly why?"

"Maybe it got stuck on a tree root. You know, lagoons sometimes have stuff like that, especially with so much foliage around it."

Arthur didn't look too convinced but he nodded slowly. "Maybe. How about you? How was your date with Ludwig?" The auburn haired merman bounced up in down on the bed, his curl curling into a heart shape as he told him all about his day with the German. "So he figured out you're the merboy he used to be friend with? That's wonderful, Feli!"

"I know, right? He even said that he'd help me figure out how to talk. I thought that maybe when he kissed me I would be able to but then I remembered that it was _your_ signature on the contract. Therefore _you_ have to be the kissed."

"I'm sorry, Feli. I _am _trying you know." Arthur reached out for his friend's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll be human. I know we will." He suddenly grinned at the memory of how close Alfred was to him. "And we'll finally get to have our happily ever after! Tomorrow for sure will be the day. I can feel it!"

Feli nodded in agreement. A sponge could see how much Alfred had taken an interest in the merprince. Whether or not he knew he was a merprince was irrelevant. The auburn haired merman gasped, suddenly remembering something. He took out a slip of paper from his pant pocket and showed it to Arthur.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Arthur unfolded the paper and read through it. The writing may have been a tad messy, perhaps due to nervousness, but the message was loud and clear. He lowered the paper with a blush and a teasing smirk. "Perhaps you should get going then. Wouldn't want to keep your human waiting now would you?" Feli blushed and pointed towards the bathroom where Rodrich was taking his own bath. "Oh right. Well, you should get going now that he's busy. Don't worry I'll cover for you."

The auburn merman gave his friend a hug and a kiss on the cheek before rolling out of bed. With note and box in hand he quietly rushed out of his room and skipped down the hall towards Ludwig's room. He paused outside when he heard a moan. His smile quickly evaporated. "Luddy, are you ok," he mouthed as he opened the unlocked room. His heart sank to his stomach at the sight before him. Candles were lit creating a soft glow on the couple on the bed but he so badly wished that it could burn his retinas. The smell of sage, once his favorite scent, now wanted to make him gag. And the woman on top of Ludwig, well…grandpa always told him it wasn't nice to hit a woman, human or mermaid but he wanted nothing more than to shove her off. To hell with it! Feli rushed inside and shoved her off Ludwig, sighing in relief when he saw that she was still wearing pants. But Ludwig wasn't and he was…oh Poseidon.

"What the hell are you doing in here," growled Ludwig in anger. "What's wrong with you? You can't just barge into people's room. Get out! Didn't you hear- hey! Get away from him!" He pulled on his undershorts with flush. Whether if it was from embarrassment or anger, Feli wasn't sure. Nor did he care. The merman had gone blind with jealousy and rage. Launching himself towards to grinning mermaid he was stopped in midair by a strong arm which grabbed his and dragged him out of the room, "I said get out! Who do you think you are just barging into my room like that?!"

Feli couldn't contain his tears and let them fall freely as he glared angrily at his German. "You told me that your door would always be open to me! You told me that you kept it locked to everyone else," he screamed silently. Taking the note out of his pajama pocket he threw it at Ludwig, "You _invited_ me here y-you, you potato bastard!"

"I don't know what you're trying to say, Feliciano, if that is really your name. Nor do I care. I'm busy at the moment so if you kindly go back to your room-"

"What they hell are you talking about '_if that is really my name'_," mouthed Feli angrily. "It _is_ my name!" He gave him a picture he had carefully drawn out but Ludwig didn't even look at it. Instead he ripped it up, each tear going straight through Feliciano's heart, and threw the pieces at the poor merman.

"If you can't prove to me you're who you say you are-"

"But I can," cried Feli silently. Picking up his box he opened it to pull out proof. "I'll show you, I'll show you my most precious treasure. The necklace you gav-" his heart stopped. After sinking into his stomach it just stopped. He moved the other contents within the box around in search for the Iron Cross Ludwig gave him. "Where is it?!" Where did it go? Where could he possibly…suddenly, he remembered something. That time when he dropped his box when he tried to free Arthur from the polyps. One of Ivan's sisters picked it up and handed it over to him. But if that were true then… The merman tried to look over Ludwig's shoulder but found that he was too short, so he peeked through the small opening near his arm. Natasha smirked and fingered the cross lying on her chest. "You wretched beast," snarled Feli silently. He tried to get past Ludwig but the blond didn't budge. Instead he grabbed the merman by his arm and shoved him roughly back, making the petite man fall.

Ludwig blinked back his anger when he realized what he did. Guilt started to weigh heavily in his heart and gut as Feli looked at him through tear stained eyes. The mute glanced down to his bloodied knees and brought a shaky hand to cover one of them, the heat from his scraped knee contrasting sharply with the coolness of his flesh. "I…I'm so sorry, I but you shouldn't have come here."

Feli glared up at his supposed love. 'Really,' he thought bitterly. 'You're going to blame _me_ for this?!'

"Maple, what's going on out here?" Matthew gasped when he saw Feli weeping on the ground. He rushed down to help him up but was weakly shoved away. "I'm sorry, eh. Did I hurt your wrist?" The young prince drew in a sharp breath when he saw how quickly the redhead's wrist was swelling.

"What happened, West," asked Gilbert as he too came out of the room he was sharing with Matthew. "Birdie, is Feliciano ok? What happened?"

"From the looks of it he fell on his wrist and scrapped his knee."

"West," growled Gilbert dragging his brother out into the hall. He completely ignored the fact that he was wearing only boxers and shoved him against the hall. "What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing," cried Ludwig in defense. "He came in here unannounced and tried to keep me from my Feli!"

"…who?"

"Feli! Feli finally found me and we were in the middle of something when that lunatic barged in and shoved him off of me."

"That _is_ Feli. You told me he- are you drunk?!" Gilbert narrowed his red eyes and shoved his brother against the wall again. "Who the hell-?" He watched as a smug looking man exited his brother's room while fixing her shirt.

"Don't mind me," he said over his shoulder in a heavily accented voice. "I'll just see myself out. Clearly, it was a mistake coming here."

Ludwig panicked, "No, wait! Don't leave."

Natasha paused and turned around with a playful pout, her exposed neck had an angry looking purple mark gleaming in the light with moisture, "I'm just going back to my friend's room. He's going to have a really big day tomorrow and I should be there for him. Don't worry, Luddy, I won't be far."

Feli had had enough. Matthew tried to tend to the wrist but the merman stumbled out of his grasp. Sniffing loudly he picked up the sole thing that belonged to his grandfather from the box, a ruby gemmed ring, and kicked the rest angrily to Ludwig before dashing down the hall and out the castle.

"And, oh by the way, Ludwig, dear," she whispered in his ear with her borrowed voice, "You're one hell of a kisser. Do svidaniya" Natasha tossed the iron cross into the discarded box on the floor and skipped away. Matthew picked it up along with the box and examined its contents.

Ludwig felt a headache coming on. Was he really drunk? Had he really mistook a blonde man as his Feli? No, it was impossible. When he opened the door it was clearly Feliciano at the other side. Right? He had a curl and everything. None of this made since but all he knew was that Feliciano had taken off. "Feli, wait," cried Ludwig as he tried to get out of his brother's hold but Gilbert proved to be stronger than he looked. "I can't let him get away."

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why was there a half-naked guy in your room? I thought you loved Feliciano?"

"I do!"

"Then why was there a random stranger in your room and why the hell did he say that you were a good kisser? Better yet why are you even kissing him in your boxers?!"

"That wasn't a stranger. That was Feliciano!" Ludwig felt dizzy; he wasn't so sure who was who but something told him that he had to follow after the man he longed for.

"No…Feli has reddish brown hair. I should know, you've only told me a million times. And another thing, what the hell is he talking about his friend and a big day tomorrow? Did you and Alfred bring home more strangers?"

"Of course we didn't! But don't you see, bruder," Ludwig stopped fighting against Gilbert and met his red eyes, "he _is_ real and now that I found him, I'm going to marry him."

Gilbert looked at his brother in disappointment, "What about, the guy from the beach? You're just going to throw what you have with him away? You could've had something special with him, Ludwig."

"_Feliciano_ is special. Nothing and no one is going to change that. I thought you'd be happy for me."

"Under different circumstances I would've been. That mute cutie…you told me that _he_ was this Feliciano person and I believed you." At his brother's surprised expression he elaborated. "I believed you because of how the kid carries himself. He's sweet and cute and…uh-"

"He's caring and kind," added Matthew. "He's everything you've ever said he was. And I think Feli and Arthur have been with us long enough to see that, even if it has only been a couple of days."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "And this so called _real_ Feli is a douche. _You're_ a douche. I mean how could you lead that poor kid on, shower him with affection then toss him away? Yeah I told you to date other guys but never would I allow you to treat them that way." The albino finally let Ludwig go and the young German tried to go after Feli. He didn't make it far because this time he was stopped by Matthew.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Gill, Ludwig," muttered the prince gravely. "That wasn't him in there with you and I think you hurt the real one." He handed over the box of mementos to the blonde and tugged his own German back into their room but before they closed the door Gilbert glanced back at his brother.

"There have been times when you're clueless attitude annoys me and you sometimes act like you have a stick up your ass but I've never been ashamed of you. Not till tonight at least."

Ludwig went back inside his room numbly. His night hadn't gone at all as he had hoped and now his head was throbbing and he was beyond confused. "What happened just now," he asked himself. Opening the box he bit his lip to keep in a sob. Inside was a blue seashell bracelet, exactly like the one he was wearing. Exactly like the one he took from Feli a few days ago when he tried reach out for him. Sighing shakily, he dug around the box and pulled out a small painting of himself as a child. He had a childish scowl and was wearing a black hat. With every object he drew from the box the harder his heart pounded. Why did that man have all these things? These belonged to Feliciano and he knew for a fact that Feli wouldn't just hand over these over to just anyone. Finally he pulled out the scraps of paper he had torn to pieces. "Matthew must've put them inside when he picked it up," he grumbled softly as he set to work in putting it back together.

When the last piece was placed accordingly, Ludwig stood from his bed alternating in curling and uncurling his fingers repeatedly, "It can't…I-no!" There in broken pieces was a detailed picture of his summer home. Everything was there down to the broken shingle his father never got the chance to fix. At the pier his father sat with a flute and Romulus lounged close by. A few feet from them were Ludwig in swim trunks and Feli teaching him how to swim. The shading was done so that he could see through the water and the fish tail colored in with vivid detail.

"There's no way that man could've drawn this from imagination alone," he murmured as his dogs entered the room once again. He absentmindedly petted one his dogs, Aster perhaps, he wasn't too sure. Thinking back to what just happened a few minutes ago, what he almost did with a complete stranger, what he did to his poor little merman, he couldn't help the guilty gasp that left his lips. "I really messed up, girl," he cried into his golden retriever's fur. "Gott, I messed up."

* * *

Feliciano's lungs were burning but he didn't stop running until he was at the spot where Ludwig and Alfred found him and Arthur. Having no more energy to continue he dropped to his knees, crying out in pain when sand irritated the wounds. He quickly sat back and brought his legs to his chest. "Why, Luddy? Why did you do this to me? How could you do this to me," he sobbed into his arms. Had he his voice box, one would've been able to hear broken cries, hurtful screams. But he didn't. All he had was this stupid constricting clothing. Growling inaudibly, he ripped the shirt Ludwig bought him from his body and peeled off the black leather boots from his cursed feet. He even went as far as to rip off his pants, "I hate him. I hate him," he thought angrily. "He lied to me and I love him. Why do I still love him?!"

"Fratello?" Lovi swam out of the ocean and rushed to his young brother, dragging his tail behind him. "Fratellino," he murmured into his hair, "What's wrong?"

"What happened, Feli?" Antonio crawled over to sit on the opposite side of his brother in law and held his hand. At his look of confusion, Antonio smiled sheepishly, "I was the turtle. It's a long story, perhaps better for another day, yeah?" Feli shrugged and nestled into his brother's arms.

"What happened," asked Lovino again, "Did the potato bastard do something to you?" When his brother's tears came tenfold, the older sibling growled in anger. "I'll kill the bastard! No one makes my Fratellino cry but me!"

"Lovi…"

"No, Antonio. My brothers missed out on some pretty good guys because of his obsession with this freak and now the bastard went and broke his little heart. This is unforgivable."

"Feli, we saw Ivan and his sister walk the beach using Arthur's and your voice. They were headed towards-uh-Feli?" Antonio gently nudged the young merman's side but Feli was unresponsive.

"Let him be, Tonio. My brother tends to fall asleep whenever he gets a good cry out. Trying to get him to wake up is pointless." Lovi's eyes softened when he saw his brother's lips form to what would've been a 'Ve~'. He settled down and motioned his lover to come closer so that they could share body heat with the silent merman. "Buonanotte, Fratellino," whispered Lovi, placing a kiss on his brother's head.

"Buenas noches, mis pequeños," murmured Antonio as he let sleep over take him as well. A silent hiccup from Feliciano was all the response they got.

The tide had begun to recede as night turned to morning and the sun was just beginning to rise but it was enough to make what was left of the moisture on the mermen's scales dry. Their tails were getting itchy from the dryness but that wasn't what woke up the older mermen. Francis had been flying from the village towards the castle but dove in after spotting his long lost friend. "Antonio," he cried happily. Upon landing he changed back into a merman and pulled in the drowsy Spaniard into a hug. "It's been too long, mon ami."

"And it's going to be longer if you don't let go of him his instant," grumbled Lovino. He didn't get up but he did crack an eye open to glare at the blonde. "What's got you so damn chipper this early in the morning anyway?"

Antonio pouted, "So rude, Lovi."

"It's ok, mon ami." Francis let go of his friend to wave away the thought. "I just wanted to say hi to Tonio. I was actually on my way to the palace to congratulate little Arthur." Feli instantly woke up and sat up to hear more. "Feli, mon cher, why are you out here?" Francis took in the merman's sad state and lack of clothes. Blue eyes lowered from the still healing bruise on the young merman's abdomen to his scrapped knees and finally to the swollen wrist. His face saddened in realization, "Things…things didn't work out so great with your human did they, mon cher?" He placed a warm hand on the boy's shoulder when he noticed tears surface, "I'm sorry, Feli. Am I to assume that…you aren't happy for Arthur?"

Feli looked up in confusion and mouthed, "Arthur?"

"Oui, mon petite. Arthur's going to get married today," said Francis excitedly.

Feli's eyes widened and despite his broken heart, he couldn't help but smile in happiness for his friend."Artie's going to get married," he mouthed? Looking over to the castle, he jumped up, wincing when his knees ached in protest. "I've got to go back. He's probably going to want me to help him prepare. Come on, Fratello!" Lovi grumbled in annoyance but turned into a cat regardless while Antonio returned into the water.

"I'll be close, Lovi," called Antonio. "Don't worry." Lovi nodded as both he and Feli ran back to the castle; Francis flew ahead.

'This is great,' thought Feli as he ran. He could see the castle and sped up, his sprint faltering only when he saw that Ludwig was playing fetch with his dogs.

"Are you ok, Feli-"

"Morning, little comrade." A strong arm reached around Feliciano's bicep and pulled him harshly into a carriage. "This is the one who attacked my brother, captain." Feli panicked when he realized that he was inside a caged carriage. He looked through the bars and saw two figures, blurred out by the sun. "Isn't that right, Feliciano?"

"Si, he attacked me and my lover in the night. My little brother's wedding is this afternoon and it would mean much to us if you see to it that he doesn't interfere." Natasha spoke in a sweet tenor voice. _His_ voice.

The captain of the guard raised an eyebrow. Little? The man was taller than...never mind. He saluted them, "Of course. I will personally see to it that he doesn't leave the dungeon."

"Excellent." Lovino hissed angrily and tried to swipe making the men outside chuckle. "How cute," murmured Natasha petting the dark furred tabby, "cute kitty, kitty, kitty."

* * *

Under normal circumstances Arthur wouldn't have ever snuggled up to someone who wasn't Feli or his seahorse shaped sponge. He couldn't even remember the last time he snuggled up to an older brother but he supposed that subconsciously he had wanted someone to hold him. It such a shame it wasn't Alfred. The merman could tell it wasn't without even opening his eyes. The sea salt was practically oozing from his pores and Arthur found it very soothing. Rodrich wasn't so bad he guessed. He was an extension of his family, sort of like an unofficial older brother. And despite that they didn't always see eye to eye, he knew that Rodrich always had his and Feli's best interest in mind. Perhaps that's why Rodrich had a secure arm around his charge, like a parent protecting his child.

Rodrich grumbled in his sleep, the sheets feeling really strange against the scales of his tail but it wasn't enough to wake him. He'd had enough of walking around as a crab and decided as soon as he crawled out of his bath that he would sleep as a merman. Initially he had cleared away the dirty water and refilled it so that he could sleep there but he figured that sometime during the night it got a little too cold and he had sleep crawled into Arthur's bed. Well it was warmer. The older merman pulled the covers closer to himself and his charge, the warmth feeling too good against his sore muscles and he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten such a good sleep in.

"Arthur! Arthur!" Francis flew in threw the bedroom window and landed as a merman on the bed.

"The bloody hell are you going on about, wanker," mouthed Arthur irritably, trying to pull the covers back over him and his guardian but Francis pulled them back.

"Wake up, mon petite sirène." He moved away when the merprince tried to smother him with a pillow.

"I'm a man you frog," he cried out silently. Though deep down he knew why he didn't call him the masculine form of…why was he here again?

"Let me just say congratulations," cried Francis, shaking the prince's hand animatedly. "I always knew you had it in you!"

Rodrich opened his eyes and shut them again when the sun light hit them. Groaning he pulled the pillow over his head, "What's the idiot babbling about now?"

Francis stopped shaking Arthur's hand and smirked, "Why are you in the same bed as little Arthur?"

"It got cold." Rodrich sat up to glare at his annoying friend. "Now, why are you congratulating Arthur?"

"It's all over town; people are talking about how the prince is going to marry."

It took a few seconds to put two and two together before he too started grinning. "I'M GETTING MARRIED!" He hugged his friend to him. "Where's Feli? I need to tell him the great news!"

Francis returned the hug and affectionately patted his young prince on the head, ruffling his already messy hair. "He's on his way up as we speak. Good luck, mon ami. I'll see you at the wedding." He pulled away and hopped out the open window, "I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"I can't believe it, Rodrich," wrote Arthur before jumping out of bed. He ran his fork through his hair and smoothed out his eye brows before rushing out the door. Rodrich turned into a crab and followed him. 'I'm getting married,' thought the merprince happily. 'Alfred actually wants to marry m-' He came to a sudden stop at the top of the last flight of stairs. "Who's that with my Alfred," he mouthed to the little blue crab as it climbed on to his shoulder. They hid behind a pillar and peeked at the group talking in the hall.

Matthew, Gilbert, and Elizabeta stood rigidly before Alfred and his two new guests. Both had platinum blonde hair but only one had a strange clip at the side. Upon getting a closer look, Arthur noted that they were dressed regally in uniform, long white scarves around their necks. Matthew cleared his throat and was first to speak, "I-I see and uh, Alfred, are you _sure _this is what you want?" The younger twin held his bear close to him; the cub appeared frightened by the two strange men. Despite their pleasant smiles he couldn't help the shiver their too kind eyes.

Gilbert on the other hand stared at the man who presented himself as Nathan. He looked almost exactly like the one his brother had brought home but…his eyes or rather his one eye was light in color and he was wearing an eye patch. For a moment he questioned if _he_ was the one who was drunk last night, or perhaps his eye sight was going. He could've sworn that the man had _both_ eyes. And despite the kindness that radiated in it he couldn't help but feel that there was something off about him. And what was up with that pitchfork charm?

"Uh, yeah, this is what I want." Alfred smiled down at Ivan as the blonde nuzzled against his arm. "I found my mystery man and remember what I said I'd do when I did?"

"...He doesn't have big eyebrows"

"Don't be rude, Matthew. Ever heard of waxing? Anyway make the necessary arrangements for the wedding this afternoon."

"Wait what?" Gilbert looked at his prince in exasperation, "I can't possibly make that much food for a whole party in such short notice. The cake alone is going to take up half my day."

"If you're not up for it then I can always find a replacement." Alfred's blank eyes narrowed, "Don't think that just because Ludwig is my best friend that I won't fire his brother. Now, is my request going to be a problem or…"

The albino balled up his fists but didn't say anything. Instead he bowed exaggeratedly and retreated to the kitchen, Gilbird chirping in distress as he flew after his angry master. Elizabeta frowned, "Alfred, what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing. I just know what I want and when I want it and I want it now."

Arthur let himself drop on the floor while the group talked. He didn't care what they said anymore. How was it possible? How was it possible for someone to change their mind about their feelings so quickly? And where on earth was Feli? Did he lie to him last night? Did he get his voice back and decided to betray him by running away with Ludwig? No, that couldn't be. He would never do something like that. But then… who was that? And why were they holding on to _his_ Alfred like they owned them? Peeking over again he bit back tears when he saw the two sharing a kiss. And-

Rodrich really shouldn't have been surprised at what his charge was doing. Everyone who personally knew the royal mersiblings in Atlantica knew that they were many things. _Could_ be many things. Generous, kind, a bit short-tempered and prideful. And if you took something from them that wasn't yours to take they tended to forget that they were royalty. Still, old habits were hard to break and he felt his nerves go hay wire when the merprince suddenly ran out of their hiding spot. "Arthur where are you going," he cried. Wait!" But the Arthur wasn't listening; he rushed down the stairs, stopping just in front of his love.

"Alfred," he cried silently in desperation, grabbing onto the prince's shoulders, his green eyes boring into Alfred's blue pleadingly, "darling, please. Please don't do this!" Biting his lip in frustration, he let out a silent cry when all Alfred did was blink his eyes blankly. Arthur turned towards the smiling 'mystery man', his brows furrowed in anger when he realized who he was.

"You," he growled silently at Ivan, "you damn tosser, what did you do to him?!"

"Friend of yours, Alfred?" The man with the eye patch patted the enraged merman on his head. "You are coming to the wedding, si?"

Arthur swatted the hand away from him. 'Who the hell is this wanker? And why does he sound like Feli?!' He shifted his heartbroken glare to Alfred but the blue eyed prince had his focus all on the man on his arm.

"P-Perhaps we should get you to your room, sweetie," murmured Elizabeta, taking Arthur gently by the shoulders.

Matthew nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"Nope." The two glanced up in shock at Alfred.

"What do you mean by 'nope', Alfie. Just because you suddenly found the man of your dreams doesn't mean you can just do what Ludwig did and break his knees!" Arthur sharply drew in a breath and Matthew shook his head. "He didn't actually break his knees but he did push him. Poor thing must've fallen on them because when Gilbert and I found him he was bleeding."

Alfred sighed and turned his dull eyes over to his brother, "I mean that he has no reason to stay here any longer. Robert and I have been talking and we think that he and his friend have over stayed their welcome. They're healthy and rested. They can leave now."His air of indifference and the monotone he used was enough to enrage the Hungarian enough for her to argue in the mute's defense.

Arthur however felt the beginnings a fit. Robert? Ivan had the audacity to soil his brother's name. The merprince balled his fists, arms beginning to shake with raw rage. Now not only was he not going to marry his love and remain human but he'd get turned into a polyp and never get to go back home to his brothers. And it was all thanks to the two timing beast before him who lied through his teeth. His eyes lowered down Ivan's shirt where he saw a familiar conch necklace. So that's what how he blinded Alfred. Thinking quickly, Arthur reached out for the necklace but was grabbed harshly by Alfred.

"Dude, don't touch him!"

"Alfred, he wasn't going to hurt him," argued Matthew, handing his bear over to Elizabeta. "Release him, brother."

"No. I don't want him hurting, Robert."

"Alfred. I said release him."

"Sebastian!"

A black haired guard came as soon as he heard his named called, "Yes, your majesty?"

"Take him away." Alfred handed Arthur over to the guard. "Take him to the dungeon. I'm getting married today and I'd be more relaxed knowing that he won't be there to hurt my groom."

"Don't," cried the younger twin. He moved to pull Arthur back but Sebastian didn't release his hold on him. "Let him go. I'm ordering you to-"

"You're word doesn't exceed that of Prince Alfred, your highness. If his majesty told me to take him to the dungeon then that's where I'm taking him."

"The hell you are!" Arthur brought his elbow to Sebastian's gut and ran again towards Ivan with the intention of removing the conch necklace but Nathan reached out gripped his wrist tightly.

"I think it's best if you leave, comrade," he said sweetly in Feliciano's voice. Arthur wanted so badly to lash out but all his energy seemed to have left him. Falling to his knees, he glanced up weakly at Alfred, vacant blue eyes being the last thing he saw before he passed out. Nathan released the blonde's wrist and wiped his hand on his pant leg. "Oops," he said with a giggle. "I forget my own strength, forgive me." Elizabeta brought her youngest prince closer to her as they both watched Alfred shrug and lead both Ivan and Nathan away.

Ludwig walked in as Sebastian walked out with an unconscious Arthur, his dogs and Max whimpering at the sight. The Main Coon looked to his master desperately but found that he was long gone. He then looked at his master's brother but he was busy whispering with Elizabeta. Meowing sadly, the cat sat on the window sill and watched as Sebastian carried the blonde to the dungeons.

"What's did I miss?" Ludwig was backed up unconsciously when Elizabeta turned her attention to him but was surprised when she didn't reprimand him like his brother did. Somehow he feared her lack of response more so. "Uh…"

"The Prince is going to wed this afternoon," she said coldly. "See that you're uniform is pressed and ready. I'm going to go help Gilbert with the preparations."

"And I'm going to go see to the ship," muttered Matthew. He took back his bear and walked out of the palace down to the pier.

* * *

**...I have literally rewritten this chapter about six times and this has like three different versions, so I have no doubt in my mind that there are some errors in here that I will probably catch when I go back to read the chapter. Not sure why but it was difficult on how I wanted it to go down. First things first, Natasha purposefully changed her appearance to look like Feli then not to confuse Ludwig and those around him. She also switches from talking in her normal accented voice (but male cause she is disguised as a male) to Feli's voice. She's the kind of mermaid that loves messing with people's minds, hence the whole sick idea of fun. She will be staying in her 'Nathan' body from now on though so...yeah. I'm sorry if that confused you T_T. Second, I'd like to thank everyone who has favorited and added this story to their follow list. It means a lot to me ^_^ Especially to those of you who've left me reviews! Next chapter will be up this Sunday, I hope you guys have a good weekend.  
**

**~Until next time**

**Dolly-Doll-Face: I had origianlly wanted to do that but I let my sister talk me into letting them look as is, with the exception of Ukraine who looks like her Nyotalia version. There is a reason why I went in that route though. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless. Thank you so much for the review ^_^**

**zoewinter1: Thanks for the review =3**

**sallyatoyota: No problem, I really like responding to my reviewers =3 I'm glad that you're enjoying the story, I just hope that you liked this chapter. I feel like it's not one of my best though, it really frustrated me how many times I kept changing my mind on the details. T_T **

**VivaAmerica: lol ^_^**

**elizabeta H. Austria: I know T_T And believe me it made me very sad making Germany do what he did to poor Feli in this chapter  
**

**Froggiecool: Lol, I think you could probably form a tag team with VivaAmerica to take on Russia and Ukraine =3 **


	9. This Day Aria

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

They day went by too quickly for Gilbert and Elizabeta. The duo worked quickly in the kitchen to make sure that they had enough food to feed their guests. Due to the short notice, Gilbert had opted to make hors d'oeuvres just so that he'd have time to make a cake. Not that he was all too thrilled at the idea of baking something festive for a day that was, well, not so happy. There was no friendly banter between the two servants. No bickering. No singing. They worked silently and diligently, each too absorbed in their own minds to even bother. _Something_ had changed within their prince; they just wished they knew what.

Matthew had personally made sure that the ship was in perfect shape for the wedding and had seen to it that everything was set. The priest had unfortunately gone out of town, so now _he_ had to perform the ceremony. The guests were already boarding and the food had arrived just in time. He looked down at his cub in thought. A part of him was pained for what Arthur and Feli must be going through and another felt that he was to blame for his brother's sudden desire to marry this Robert fellow. If he hadn't pressured him to marry then perhaps Alfred wouldn't have rushed into this. Then again, it wasn't the marriage he was all that opposed to rather the groom his brother had chosen. Despite whatever praises Alfred had showered the man with, Matthew simply couldn't see it. He couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Surely, Arthur was a better match. The guy was a mute for crying out loud and _he_ was able to communicate gratitude; in his own way of course. When Matthew had shown Robert and Nathan to their room and had had the door shut in his face.

Natasha waited until she couldn't hear footsteps to turn on her brother with a smile, "You did it." She helped him out of his clothes and into a white version of his military uniform. "What a handsome little groom you'll make, my darling you'll look divine," she cooed in her borrowed voice. "Things are working out accordingly to your ultimate design." Ivan leaned into his older sister's touch, for once genuinely enjoying her doting upon him. It wasn't as…creepy as how she acted when Natalya was around. Then it dawned on him, she only acted that way in order to mess with their young sister. He smiled with new found knowledge. Oh how deliciously sadistic his big sister could be. Natasha gave him a crooked smirk as she turned his face by the chin so that he could look at her, "Soon you'll have that little merman and the ocean will be yours." The mermaid ran a brush through her brother's hair as the two shared a giggle.

The merman stared at his sibling through the mirror when she pulled away and started to strip out of her clothes with a slight blush. How strange it was to see her as a man. Despite the height difference she had developed a strong back, the dimple where her spine met her hips was emphasized more when she bent over to pull off her shoes. With her abs flexing with every movement he briefly wondered if things would've been different if she _had_ been born a male. Shaking the thought away and turned to lace his boots in order to give his brot-_sister_ some privacy so that she could change as well.

Outside the ship, Francis flew up to the ship while singing the wedding march cheerfully to himself. "Excellent," he cried happily, "They haven't left. Now, which window will lead me to mon petite?"

"This day is going perfect," Arthur's melodic voice rang out of a window drawing Francis's attention to it. "The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small."

Grinning lecherously he thought to himself, 'Hon, hon, hon. I found you!' Francis quietly approached the window that lead to the bridal suite with every intention on sneaking up on his friends. However what he saw made his blood freeze.

Ivan smiled at himself in the mirror and brushed away non-existent specs of dust, "All those fish eating boars will say I look great in uniform, what that they don't know is that I have fooled them all."

Francis flew backwards with wide eyes. "Non," he whispered to himself. "That isn't…where's oh mon dieu!" Quickly as he could he set off to find Arthur and Feli to tell him what he just saw. "Arthur! Feli!" The seagull flew into Arthur's room at the palace and panicked when he saw that it was vacant. "Where are you, guys?!" Jumping out of the window, he circled around the palace in hope to find him.

"Francis?" The blond merman turned around to see a whole flock of puffins staring at him in confusion. Mathias flew out of their formation and came closer to friend. "What's up, man? We were just on our way to see the prince get hitched but we saw you fretting over here. Is everything-"

"Non, les choses ne sont pas bien! Le prince humain va se marier avec la bête de la mer!"

The Danish merman looked at his friend peculiarly, "Ok, all I understood was 'no', so how about you repeat that in English this time."

Francis took a deep shuddering breath in effort to calm himself down and nodded. "I was flying and I wanted to surprise Arthur in his bridal suite-"

Mathias nodded in understanding. "You wanted to pull a peeping tom, gotcha."

"And I heard his voice, so I decided to swoop in for it," continued Francis, not at all offended by Mathias's subtle jab. "But I saw the sea beast singing to himself and another man was there! Do you understand what I'm telling you?!"

The puffin looked over his shoulder to his family and shrugged. "No, not really."

Berwald sighed, "He say'n that Ivan is us'n Prince Arthur's voice."

"Oh."

Francis groaned in frustration, "But that's not all, he's tricking mon petite Arthur's lover into marrying him. If he does that then Arthur will belong to Ivan! You need to help me find him."

"And you're positive that it's Ivan in there," questioned Mathias

"Of course I'm sure, have I ever been wrong?" At the Nordic's blank expressions he waved his wings about, briefly giving into gravity before he flapped them again. "I mean when it's important! Please, mes amis, help me!" The small family Nordic mermen nodded and split up in order to find their missing prince.

* * *

Feli had curled himself in a corner near a tiny window and had stayed there all morning. His sullen eyes stared out, really only able to see people's shoes as they ran their errands. The sun made its trip across the sky and he bitterly thought to himself that he was going to stay a human forever and he'd spend the rest of his days inside this dirty, filthy dungeon alone. Lovino had turned into a bird and tried to find help but had yet to comeback. Maybe he had abandoned him. Now that Antonio was back, Lovi really had no need to stick around. From his spot he could vaguely see a grand ship in the distance decorated beautifully for the wedding that was no doubt going to take place this afternoon. "Arthur is probably in there," he mouthed silently to himself. "He's probably getting ready for his big day."

A sad smile worked its way to his face, "At least you'll be happy. You deserve happiness after all you've been through." Feliciano sniffed miserably and picked at the scabs on his knees thinking back to Ludwig. Always Ludwig. Had that demon not interfered would he have been on that ship as well getting ready to marry Ludwig? 'That night was going perfect,' he thought silently, 'The kind of night of which I've dreamed since I was small. But instead of cuddling close, with the man I love the most; _my_ wedding bells will never ring for me at all.' Feli buried his head in his arms and let out a pained sob.

"Feli?" The auburn haired merman quickly lifted his head and peered through the bars. Did Lovi come back? No. It was just a blue crab…wait.

Rodrich crawled through the bars and up Feli's arm. "Arthur's in the next room. He's been crying and-and thank Poseidon you're here. Well, not here but…you know what I mean right?" At Feli's blank stare the older merman sighed. "He needs you Feli. Give me a second, I'll let you through. Just stand back, ok?" Feli nodded and pressed himself against the opposite wall, his eyes widening when Rodrich took the form of a bull, much like the ones Alfred pointed out to them when they were taking that carriage ride. Backing up, Rodrich brushed his hoofed against the floor, hot air escaped through his nostrils before he charged head first against the wall. He repeated this three more times before he made a hole large enough for him Feli to climb through.

Arthur glanced up from his own corner and practically tackled his friend to the ground, "Feli, did Alfred send you here too? Let me see your knees," he mouthed rapidly. Feli gently pushed him off and pulled out a folded piece of paper and took out a broken piece of charcoal to give to the blonde. Arthur took them and began to write rapidly, "We need to find a way out of here!"

Feli read through and took the charcoal back to write his response, "Lovino is out there now. I think he went to go find help from your friends in the Lagoon but…he's been gone for a while now."

The merprince smiled weakly, "It'll be ok. We just need to get out of here. I need to go stop that wedding."

"I saw the ship from my window. It hasn't departed yet."

Rodrich cleared his throat to get his charge's attention. "I'm going to go see if I can find Lovino. Don't worry, guys, I'll come right back if I don't find them." Feli and Arthur watched as their caretaker turned into a sparrow and flew out the tiny window.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the ship Natasha admired her new body in the mirror. Strong muscles hidden under the navy military uniform rippled as she bent over to tie her boots. Memories of last night invaded her mind when she caught sight of the purple mark on her neck Ludwig had given her and she giggled. Ludwig had walked past the room she was sharing with her brother with a flushed face. He had muttered out an apology and said something about only loving Feliciano before opening the door of his own room. Well, if it was a Feliciano he wanted… her hair turned auburn, eyes glowing like topaz, she let out a 'Ve~' Ludwig quickly turned around, hope filling his chest. No. It couldn't be. Closing his eyes and counting to five he opened them again and paled when he saw Nathan smiling at him pleasantly. He ran inside his room and locked the door.

Natasha let out a manly chuckle when she heard Ludwig scream in frustration and pain along with something breaking. Oh how she loved doing this! When she went back inside she caught her brother staring at her again. "I could care less about the mess, this game is much too fun to end today." Glancing down at the ring Ludwig had given her at the time he thought she was his mute lover she smirked. "Vows? Well I'll be lying when I say, that through any kind of weather I'll want us to be together, the truth is I don't care for him at all. No, I will not love Ludwig," Natasha wrapped her arms around her brother, this time her assets not getting in the way of forcing him to hear her heart that would forever beat solely for him, "for my heart is not so big. But I still want him to be all mine!"

Ivan shivered when 'Nathan' pressed his smooth cheek against his as he-_she_ hugged him. And here he thought _he_ was the evil one. They felt the ship move slowly. The sun was preparing to set and they knew that it was only a matter of a few hours before they'd get what they wanted.

* * *

Lovino literally bumped into Tino as he was flying back to the dungeons. Next to the small puffin was a larger one with a stoic expression and he let out a sigh of relief. "Do you know where Lukas is? Feliciano is in the dungeon and we really need him to get him out of there!"

Tino nodded, "My brother is with Rodrich, along with the others. Berwald and I were just looking for you." The three mermen flew back to the dungeons just as Lukas was inspecting the wall.

"Will you be able to break through it," asked Lovino as he landed on his brother's head. "Can you fix my brother's knees?"

The young Nordic turned his gaze to Feliciano's knees, "Yes and no. I can fix his knees but I can't break through this wall. If I do then the whole thing will fall on top of us because we're below ground." He turned around and looked at the bars. "However I can probably stretch these things open wide enough for them to slip through but I can't guarantee that the guards won't come after them when I do though."

Rodrich ran a hand through his dark hair, "That's going to take up way too much time." He looked out the window and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. "Francis you and the Nordics go and find a way to stall the wedding while Lukas does this. Lukas when you're done go and assist them. Lovino and I will get Arthur and Feliciano to the ship as fast as we can."

Nodding Francis and the other Nordic merman slipped out the window while Lukas stayed behind. Turning back into a merman he pulled his hair brooch from his hair. The others watched as he chanted in a foreign tongue, something Arthur recognized from a book on white magic he read as a child. The black and white scales on his sky blue tail began to glow, creating a soothing aurora around the merman. Upon opening his eyes he shoved the brooch towards the door, melting the bars enough so that they became malleable. Large pale blue hands of energy pulled at the bars creating a gap large enough for them to escape. Lukas cleared his throat and fixed his hair again. "There. Now you should get going before humans come and see what I-"

"What about Feli's knees?!"

Feli shook his head and helped Arthur stand up. Rodrich nodded, "He's right, there's no time. Go help stall that wedding. Lovino and I will get them out of here."

"Here, I'll this mist should lead the way to an exit. Good luck." Lukas turned himself into a bird and flew out the window.

Turning themselves into cats, Rodrich and Lovi escorted their charges out into the catacomb like halls of the dungeon. "How the hell are we supposed to get out of here," hiss Lovino.

"Lukas said the mist should lead the way," answered Rodrich, pointing at a white trail with his white paw. "Let's just follow it."

Arthur nodded and picked up Rodrich with one hand while the other gripped Feli's tightly. They quietly and quickly made their way through the dim lit halls. 'Strange that there aren't many guards around, they must all be upstairs.' He glanced over at his friend when he noticed the slight lag in his movements but he bit his tongue. It wasn't Feli's fault that he couldn't keep up. Looking down at his wounded knees he couldn't help but feel guilty. If he hadn't forced him to come up to the surface then none of this would've happened. But what was done was done. Now all he could do is try and make things better. Not to mention Alfred was going to blindly marry a man he mistook for him and if that happened then he and Feliciano would be turned into polyps and the human prince would forever live in whatever dream state Ivan put him in. No, that couldn't happen!

Picking up the pace, Arthur coaxed Feli into a faster jog, 'Must escape before it's too late find a way to save the day. Hope, I'll be lying if I say; I don't fear that I may lose him to one who wants to use him. Not care for and love and cherish him each day." The came to a sudden stop when the misty suddenly stopped at a door; Arthur let go of Feli's hand and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. No, oh Poseidon, please! The merprince threw his weight onto the door trying in vain for it to open. Despair was overwhelming him once again and he fell to his knees, 'For I oh so love the groom, all my thoughts he has consumed.' The mist gently lifted the prince away before becoming thicker and swirling around the door. The four mermen watched the mist spin faster and faster until it created a mini cyclone. Arthur smiled; Lukas always was superior to him in magic. Lacing his fingers with Feli's and jumped into the water outside, 'Oh my darling Alfred, I'll be there very soon!"

Rodrich handed over Arthur to Antonio while Lovino took his brother. "Take them to the ship as fast as your fins can carry you."

Lovi glanced over his shoulder, "What about you?"

"I'm going to go get Robert so we can put an end to this once and for all." Rodrich's tail propelled water as the merman swam as fast as he could to Atlantica.

* * *

The bell resonated on the ship signifying that the wedding was about to start. Ivan took hold of his sibling's arm as they made their way to the deck, "Finally the moment arrived, for me to be one lucky guy."

Francis and his fellow birds figured that they wouldn't be enough to cause a big enough distraction. So while Francis, Emil and Tino circled the ship, Berwald and Mathias and rushed back to gather some wildlife and fellow sea life from the lagoon for assistance. "Here they come, Francis," cried Tino. "What do we do now?" The French merman glanced down and saw who he assumed was Natasha in male form hand over Ivan to a stoic Alfred.

The two men walked down the aisle while the organ played the wedding march. Members of the court and other guests bowed as Alfred walked by them. Matthew couldn't help but feel restless by the whole thing, especially by the blank look on his brother's eyes. Where had that playful spark gone? Where was the look of adoration he was showering Arthur with? What did this Robert fellow have on his brother? His indigo eyes widened when Max hissed violently at the man and Robert responded with a swift kick to the Maine Coon. "Did you see that, Gil," he whispered to his albino lover. "That guy just kicked Max!"

Gilbert narrowed his eyes in response but kept his mouth shut. Dressed in his own military uniform he stood rigidly next to his brother who tried his best not to meet Nathan's eye. 'Did he finally realize that this freak wasn't who he thought he was,' wondered Gilbert. His chick chirped fearfully in his hair and tried to hide under his master's white locks when Nathan chuckled.

"Treat my brother well, Alfred," murmured Nathan as he took his place next to Robert. The blonde prince didn't respond; he just stared blankly ahead.

Matthew looked at his brother for any indication that he didn't want to go through with it and sighed when he didn't find one. Opening the good book he started to the ceremony, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

The two brunet mermen panted as they swam as fast as they could with the added weight to their person. Arthur had kicked off his boots and had somehow removed his shirt along the way in effort to lighten the load for Antonio but it helped very little. They _were_ approaching the ship quickly though but he couldn't help but feel his gut churn in anxiety. 'Oh the wedding we won't make,' he thought frantically as he watched the sun lower into the horizon. 'He'll end up marrying a fake and my prince Alfred will be-"

"Mine. All mine," purred Ivan in Arthur's voice. "Uh, I mean I do."

Matthew raised an eyebrow but continued on. "…Right. And do you, Prince Alfred Frederick Jones, Take Robert Kirkland as your-"

Ivan's smile was slowly turning into a frown when he heard a familiar squawk. Glancing over his shoulder he saw a multitude of birds ranging his sizes dive down onto the ship lead by Francis. Gilbird flew out of his master's hair to joined in on the fun. Using his sunflower bouquet, Ivan tried to shoo the birds away from his face. The guests went into a frenzy when bigger animals jumped on board the ship. Sea Lions? Tiger lobsters? Berwald? Oh my! Tino took advantage that his husband distracting the mermaid and dove down to take Natasha's conch necklace from her neck while she was busy trying to pry Berwald and Lobsters from her brother.

Gilbert pulled Matthew away from the podium when one of the sea lions head butted Nathan away from Ivan and onto the wedding cake. "The animals have gone mad," he cried in amazement as he watched three dolphins, led by Emil, jump up and spit a stream of water in the blonde's face. "I love it!"

Ludwig grabbed Alfred and pulled him to the side just as Francis and Mathias dove in for Ivan's conch necklace. Growling in anger, Ivan took hold of Francis's neck and started to strangle him, a string of curse words both in Russian and English spewing from his mouth as he did so. The Dane pecked at the merwarlock's head in effort to get him to release his friend. Kumajirou gave out a tiny battle cry as it too joined in on the action. Clearing a path for his brother Max, both he and the Maine Coon charged towards their target. Max embedded his sharp claws as deep as he could into Ivan's leg while the polar bear bit his rear as hard as his baby jaws could. "Sweet Vodka," cried the merman in pain, releasing his hold on Francis.

The seagull noted that Arthur and Feli had climbed over the rail and onto the deck. Meeting Tino's eyes he shouted through his clenched beak, "Break the conches!" Tino nodded and smashed the shell pendant on a beam while Francis did the same with his. Everyone watched as a two golden streams flowed out of the conch, enchanting male vocals blending together before separating and going to their respected person.

Alfred blinked a few times and shook his head, "What happened?" He looked down at his attire with a frown, "Why am I wearing this? Isn't this my marriage day clothes? Who the hell are those two and more importantly where's Artie?!"

"Alfred," cried Arthur happily, extending his arms to his love. Max meowed in joy and jumped into the merman's arms making both he and Feli giggle.

The blue eyed prince widened his eyes in surprise when he saw the shirtless Arthur but grinned excitedly as he rushed to hug Arthur, not minding that his cat was pressed in between them. "Dude you can talk now! Wait a minute. You're the guy who saved me from the ship wreck aren't you?! It was you all along!"

Ivan was helped up by his sister. He glared at the couple, "Alfred get away from him!" Gilbert, Matthew and Elizabeta exchanged glances with one another when the voice came out childlike and held a Russian accent to it.

Arthur ran a hand through Alfred's hair, brushing the stray locks away from his eyes. "I wanted to tell you but-" The thought was silenced by a kiss but the sun had already taken its leave. "Bloody hell," cried Arthur in pain, his pants ripping at the seams from his ruby tail growing back. Beside him Feli groaned as he fell onto the deck, his legs fusing back together. Dark aqua and golden scales grew back onto his tail, making Ludwig draw in a sharp breath.

"Too late," sang Ivan gleefully. "Too late, you're too late!" Ivan ripped off his uniform and rushed over to the merprince. Cackling he grabbed Arthur by the arm and grew his tail back, "Da svidaniya, comrade. Come sister." Natasha giggled and ripped off her own uniform.

She grabbed onto Feli's arms and looked over her shoulder as she grew out her own tail. "Da svidaniya, Luddy." Blowing him a kiss she jumped after her brother.

Gilbert stared over the rail with wide red eyes. "Holy shit, bruder. Feliciano really _is_ a merman!" The younger German stood frozen in place. If the proof he found in the box hadn't confirmed that the mute was indeed his long lost love, Feli's tail sure as hell was. Never had he ever seen such a lovey appendage.

"Quick get me a harpoon and a row boat," cried Alfred as he removed his military coat. "I don't know about you, Ludwig, but_ I'm_ not letting my man get away. I lost him once already; I'm not going to lose him again!"

Arthur tried to squirm out of Ivan's grasp, "Unhand me you tosser!"

"I do not think so, little comrade." The older merman tightened his grip on the merprince, not at all fazed by the fists pounding at his back. "You see it isn't you I'm after; you're nothing more than bait. I have much larger fish I plan to fry."

"Let go of him, Ivan!"

Ivan looked down at the glowing Trident pointed at his throat then at Robert. The King's emerald eyes flashed in anger and his tail stiff with Rodrich beside him. Lovino and Antonio were circling Natasha from behind. The merwarlock gave them a pleased smile, "How are you Antonio. I see you managed to find a loop hole in my curse. Did you tell Lovi who taught you to be a better lover?"

Lovino balled up his fists. "Shut up you damn bastard! As if _you_ could help him be a better lover!"

"Enough," growled Robert, pressing the Trident painfully against Ivan's pale skin. "Let my brother and Feli go."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Bobby." Ivan pulled out the contract, "you see? He signed both himself and his little friend over to me as payment for my services. They're mine."

"Bobby, I'm sorry," cried Arthur as he tried to pull himself away from Ivan's grip. "I didn't mean to-I-I didn't know he would do something like this. I'm sorry!"

Robert gripped his Trident harder in response to his baby brother's sobs. Gritting his teeth together the sea king released a bolt of energy from the Trident at the contract in Ivan's hand. Releasing Arthur, Ivan was pushed back into an underwater boulder. He cackled gleefully when everyone saw that the document was unscratched. "That's funny, Comrade. But as you can see," he released the contract and the golden paper captured Arthur, creating a vortex of energy around him. "This contract is legal, binding, and _completely_ unbreakable." Running a hand over Robert's torso, Ivan gloated, "Even for you King Robert. There is nothing you can do to save poor unfortunate Arthur. The favored brother of the mighty King Robert is going to make an excellent commodity … then again, mother always did say I would make a good business man someday. If someone made me a better offer I _could_ offer an exchange." Robert watched in horror as his youngest brother was becoming a polyp.

Pulling out a fresh contract, Ivan glanced at Robert coyly. "Now, comrade, do _we_ have a deal?" Robert ran a hand through his red locks he tore his gaze from Arthur to glare at Ivan. With his Trident in hand he made it glow once again and shot at the document in the warlock's hands, this time however signing the contract in agreement. Ivan giggled, "It's done then!" The vortex changed Arthur back and in turn changed Robert into a polyp.

Alfred stopped rowing when he saw a glowing light under the water. Picking up his harpoon, he carefully aimed.

"No," cried Arthur as he swam to his oldest brother, "Bobby…" Rodrich and Lovi knelt on their tails, both staring forlornly at their friend.

Ivan picked up the trident and heavy crown, placing it on his head, "Finally, it's mine." He giggled again when his sister sent him a kiss.

The merprince growled in anger, "Don't touch that you bloody wanker!" He tried to attack Ivan elbowed him away.

"Don't fool with me you little shit!" Ivan cornered him against the boulder and pointed the Trident against his heart. "Contract or no, don't think I won't blast you to- AH!" Turning his cruel eyes to his grazed bicep then above him, he saw Alfred loading another harpoon into his gun

"Alfred," cried Arthur. "Alfred, watch out!"

Natasha released her grip on Feliciano and rushed to attack the human prince without having to be told. "You foolish human," she hissed angrily, her tail glowing menacingly. "How dare you hurt my darling brother?!"

Lungs burning in protest for fresh air, Alfred kicked his way to the surface, barely getting a gulp of oxygen before getting dragged back into the water. Feli and Lovino rushed to help him. The younger of the two tugged at Alfred while the older merman tried to pry Natasha's fingers off. Antagonized by his sister's treatment, Ivan aimed at Alfred, "Say da svidaniya to your lover, little Artie." Arthur narrowed his eyes in anger and reached out for the Trident, ruining Ivan's shot. Natasha's eye widened and she let out a pained scream as the uncontrolled bolt of energy pierced right through her, vaporizing most of her body.

"Nyet," cried Ivan in horror. "Natasha, nyet!" He reached out for the sole remainder of her body, her hand, and caressed it against his cheek lovingly. Feelings he wasn't fully aware he had gripped his heart painfully. "My beautiful sister," he murmured sadly. He gently buried the hand before picking up the Trident again and gripped it tightly with both hands. Angry tears rolled down his cheeks as he watched Arthur followed Alfred to the surface. "KOL, KOL, KOL," he chanted, eyes glowing black. Lovino, Antonio and Rodrich backed away from the angry merman, the latter holding on to Robert protectively. They watched as Ivan's body grew to a monstrous size, his tail coiling around him like a snake.

The blonde merman swam towards his lover and hugged him close, "Are you ok, Alfred?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, Artie, I'm so sorry about this," murmured the blue eyed prince into Arthur's matted hair.

Arthur tried to push him towards his row boat, "You have to get away from here! It's not safe."

"No way!" Alfred held on to his merman tightly, "I won't leave you again." They saw the water bubble beneath them. "What's going on?" Arthur's eyes widened when he recognized the golden tip of his father's crown as it came between him and Alfred. Suddenly they found themselves high above the sea, Ivan staring up at them with a cruel chuckle. The two princes reached around the crown for each other's hands and jumped off, Alfred immediately pulling Arthur to his chest.

Ivan laughed at them mockingly, "You pitiful," he raised his heavy tail above the water, "insignificant fools!" He brought the tail in effort to crush the couple but they dove out of the way just in time. No matter. Raising the glowing Trident above his head he summoned storm clouds and provoked the tide so that the waves became violent. "Now _I'm_ the ruler of all the oceans, the waves obey my every whim and command!" Ivan lifted his left hand over the water and slowly turned it so that his palm was facing up, "The Sea and all its spoils…" Curling his pinky and ring finger in and lifted his hand up, the water following until it formed a tidal wave over Alfred, pushing the prince under water, "Bow to my power!"

Ludwig and the guests watched in despair from the wedding ship as the over grown merman brought the Trident tow the water and began to swirl it, creating a massive whirl pool in its wake. Feli grunted as he fell onto the deck. Startled out of his panic induced frozen state, Ludwig tried to help his little love up but was roughly shoved out of the way. He stared at Feli with wide eyes and couldn't help but feel a bit hurt from the merman's action.

Feli ignored the look and called for Gilbert. "You have to get these people out of here and back to the shore!"

Gilbert shook his head, "We tried but she's got her anchor lowered and we don't have the key to raise it."

"Merda!" Feli looked around and caught sight of the Nordic family huddled together in fear. Even Berwald looked nervous. "Lukas, perfavore, could you help them raise the anchor. The humans need to get to safety." The young Nordic nodded and crawled over as quickly as he could. Using his magic he managed to weld off the chains connecting the anchor to the ship. Matthew took a hold of the wheel and began to maneuver them back to the shore. Feli looked over the rail and saw that Arthur was holding onto a rock for dear life as the whirl pool tried to suck him in. Glancing over to Matthew and the others he shouted, "Stay safe, amici."

He was about to dive back into the water to help Arthur when a strong arm grabbed him around his bicep. Turning around he saw that Ludwig was trying to pull him back, "Don't go, Liebling. Please," his blue eyes met Feli's amber desperately, "Don't go."

Feli wrestled his arm away, "I have to. He's my best friend." The German watched in horror as Feli swam straight for the whirl pool. Without thinking twice Ludwig jumped in and swam after his love. Alfred had the right idea. There was no way he was going to lose Feliciano again! Speaking of which where was Alfred?

The human prince tried to open his eyes underwater when he felt something brush against his cheek but the seawater stung them. Reaching out blindly, he gripped at the rope and pulled himself up. 'What the-it's a ship!' he thought to himself. Alfred gasped for breath when the ship surfaced and continued his climb until he rolled onto the deck. Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Alfred brushed his hands over his eyes, his glasses not quite fitting him right due to all the trauma they've received. He was surprised that they weren't cracked.

Arthur watched from his rock as Alfred tried to maneuver the ship towards Ivan. The large merman turned his attention to him, not at all forgetting that it was the merprince's fault that he had inadvertently killed his favorite sister. Shooting a bolt of energy at the rock, Ivan cackled when Arthur fell to the center of the whirl pool. Feli saw this and jumped after him, narrowly escaping the jagged beams of ships rising from their grave.

"Feli," cried Arthur. "What are you doing, git? You're going to get yourself killed!"

The Italian merman smiled wryly, "where you go I go remember?" Arthur gave a laughing sob and hugged Feli close.

Ivan growled in agitation. It wasn't fair. Why should that brat get to have someone dear to him when he had no one? Aiming the trident at the two friends, he shot the heated energy at them but they managed to dodge the attacks.

Alfred grunted in frustration when the ship was turning in the opposite direction, "Why isn't this piece of crap working?!"

"Beating on her won't help, Alfred." Ludwig moved to help his friend. "The things attaching the wheel to the rudder must've fallen off."

"Yeah, I got that, genius. How the hell am I supposed to drive this thing without a wheel?!" Alfred looked over to where he'd last seen Arthur and his heart dropped when there was no sign of him. "Hurry, Luddy!"

"Give me a sec; I'm going to release the anchor!"

Alfred blinked once, "But that's going to stop the ship all together! How is that going to help?!"

"Just shut up and watch," growled Ludwig in response as he kicked at the wheel to lower the anchor, the heavy iron hook immediately made contact with the sea bed. "Hold on!" Alfred did as he was told as the ship made a sharp turn around. It was sucked into the rapid current that would lead them straight to Ivan. The German broke through the deck and reattached the sheaves to the wheel, "Ok, that should do it. Keep her steady, Alfred!"

Alfred nodded and aimed the tip right for Ivan's abdomen. Below them in the center of the vortex, Feli and Arthur watched Ivan take another aim for them, "So much for true love!" The giant merman stopped laughing when he felt something pierce right through him. "W-what? No!" He pulled out the beam from his stomach, his eyes widening when blood came out in a steady stream. Ivan let out a frightened scream when the blood seeped through his fingers. Tears resurfaced in his eyes, "Big sister! Big sister please help me, I'm scared! I...I feel cold," he murmured sadly. His vision was quickly betraying him as was his balance. "Na…tash...a." Both human blondes abandoned ship before Ivan fell limply over it, dragging both to their watery grave.

Ludwig and Alfred had managed to use the last of their strength to swim to safety. Both had thrown themselves onto the wet shore. The prince chuckled weakly, "We did it, dude." Ludwig grunted in agreement and lifted his heavy hand to fist bump his friend before passing out shortly after his knuckles brushed Alfred's. "We….we're…h-heroes."

* * *

**Can you guess where that song was from =p**

***Edit: Forgot to add the translate for what France said- "No things are not ok! The human prince is going to marry the sea beast!"**

**I apologize for not getting this chapter up yesterday T_T My file became corrupted and I had to rewrite it all over again. Ivan's death wasn't entirely what I wanted and if I can think of something better I might go back and change it...Thank you so much for supporting the story, it really means a lot to see that people actually liked it ^_^ I'll post the next chapter sometime this week but it might be a while because I have an Anatomy test I need to study for. As always I enjoy receiving reviews =3 **

**Until next time~**

**MinuArmastus: Thank you for the review!**

**zoewinter1: I'm sorry T_T**

**Dolly-Doll-Face: I'm sorry that France's wedding crash wasn't as epic as I would've liked it to be T_T but I did think that Mr. Kumajirou and Max's tag team was pretty awesome. I hope you did too.**

**VivaAmerica: Yeah, I thought Nathan/Natasha was pretty sick in her methods of inflecting pain, it's probably why I feel bad about the drift between Italy and Germany too T_T. Thank you for the review ^.^ **

**elizabeta H. Austria: Alfred granted your wish =3**

**Coolgirl1998: Thank you so much for the review! Things will get better next chapter I promise ^_^**


	10. Wedding Bells Are Ringing

**This has got to be the longest chapter I've ever written but I hope it makes up for the late update. Please sit back and enjoy =3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hetalia nor do I own the songs from The Little Mermaid**

Blue eyes looked at the medallion with a loving sadness. The merman trailed his thumb over the initials engraved in the golden heart before opening it to reveal a happy couple. A blonde merman with striking green eyes was grinning lazily, an arm wrapped around his blue eyed brunette lover. Toris wiped at a lone tear from his cheek but more followed. Despite what others said, time didn't soften the pain and he didn't want it to. As far as he was concerned it was when you started to become numb to it that you should worry.

"Tor-Tor?" Toris froze. Scratch that, when you started to hear voices, you should worry. He carefully closed the locket and tucked it away under his pillow. "Tor-Tor, like, please don't ignore me."

"You're not here," whispered the brunette merman. He refused to turn around. He'd experienced this before and always fell for it. Then he'd go into a depression a few days and his work would back up and…and it was just too much. Closing his eyes tightly, he counted to ten. "You're not here. You're not here. You're not-"

Pale warm arms pulled him against a slim body and he risked peeking down at the tail that wrapped itself around his. Pink. Pink with reflective purple scales and delicate flares at the tips of the fin. "I'm so sorry, Tor-Tor." The lips speaking were murmuring against the herald's skin making a wave of fresh tears resurface. "I made a terrible mistake going to him, I'm sorry, babe." The last part was whispered but Toris heard it. Toris turned around and stared at Feliks before pulling him in for a kiss. They wrapped their tails around each others and tried to get as close as possible.

When they pulled away Toris refused to let go of his little blonde, "Where were you, Fe?" Feliks swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away but his lover gently tugged at his chin so that he could look at him. "I'm not mad. I just…I just want to know why you didn't come back? Did I do something? Was it because of the fight we had? Because I swear I didn't mean any of it. When you left I felt like total shit, when you didn't come back at all I-"

Feliks put a finger to his lips to silence him, "No, babe. It wasn't you. You were right. I was selfish and a narcissist so I went to Ivan so he could change the color of tail. I thought that if I did that, you'd be less embarrassed of me. It was like a step forward towards my manly transformation and junk. Only thing was that he wanted something called vodka but I couldn't find any and when the third day came along, I was turned into a polyp."

"So it really _was_ because of me."

"No! I, like, already said it wasn't. I just…I don't know I went for the easy route. I thought if I just changed my tail color, then the other mermen wouldn't tease you and it would show you that you mean more to me than this," he flicked his fin, "and I wanted you to be proud of being with someone like me."

"Fe, I am proud of being with you. I love you and I shouldn't have said those things. They weren't true, I'm just sorry that it took you disappearing for four years for me to realize that." Toris pulled his boyfriend to their bed and sat down. "I love your tail."

"Even if it's pink and guys tend to confuse me for a girl?"

Toris smiled and rubbed his nose against Feliks's, "Even then." Remembering something important he rushed to his closet and pulled out a small box. He swam back to Feliks and knelt before him, "I-I actually wanted to give you this. Um…Feliks, I know we've been apart for a long time but my feelings for you haven't changed in the slightest. Fe," Toris opened the clam box and offered it to his lover, "Will you make me the luckiest merman in whole ocean by accepting this ring and be my groom?"

Feliks blinked a few times before launching himself at his lover. "Like, is that even a question? Of course I will!"

Outside of their room many other merfolk were celebrating the arrival of their own loved ones, now free of the so called garden Ivan had carefully cultivated over years of preying on the miserable, lonely and depressed.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go home, hermanito?" Antonio placed a gentle hand on his young brother in law. "Don't you want to see your human?"

Feli shook his head, "He's fine. I already checked; I just want to go home and sleep in my own bed."

"If you're sure that's what you want. Just give me a sec to tell Lovi and then we'll go home, k?" Feli just nodded and waited patiently for the Spaniard to go tell his brother that they were going home.

Ludwig had stifled a yawn as he got up from the sand, Alfred was still sleeping but he figured he'd be alright. Arthur was sitting on a rock just a bit away from them anyway, he'd be in good hands. He looked around for his little merman but didn't see him. 'He must be over at the spot where he dragged me,' he thought to himself. With an excited grin, Ludwig jogged over to that part of the beach, leaving behind his friend.

Lovino swam up to Robert and Rodrich after seeing his brother and boyfriend off. The two were watching Arthur and the two humans. "What are you going to do, Robert," he asked after watching Ludwig get up and jog to the other end of the beach. "Never mind, I need to go take care of something." The Italian merman swam away.

"Robert," called Rodrich softly as to not disturb Arthur's thoughts. "What did you do with Ivan's body?"

The king kept his eyes on his young brother when he answered, "I had him taken to the Mariana. Figured it was for the best, you know?"

"Yeah."

The two older mermen watched as Arthur sighed sadly. They could tell the little prince was itching to go to his beloved but was restraining himself because of his brother's presence. Robert let out a sigh, "He really does love him, doesn't he Rodrich?"

Rodrich nodded slowly, gently pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You know, it's as I always say, your majesty. Children need to be free to lead their own lives." He gave Robert a side glance when he heard his friend chuckle.

"You _always_ say that, Roddy?" The black haired merman gave him a sheepish smile. Sighing sadly, Robert looked at his brother again, "Then I guess there's only one problem left."

"And what's that, Bobby?"

"How much I'm going to miss him." Lowering his glowing Trident to the water he sent a gentle beam of energy towards his unsuspecting brother.

Arthur had his green eyes locked on Alfred, watching as the human prince was slowly regaining consciousness when he felt it. The sensation was warm like tender caresses on his tail. He tore his gaze away to look down at what was going on with his fin when he realized that it was his brother's doing. The young prince sent Robert a grateful smile and the sea king returned it. This transformation was so much kinder than when he had first undergone it with Ivan. Sliding, down to the water he watched as his tail split into two, the need to go back up for air wasn't there so he assumed that his brother had allowed him to keep his merman lungs.

The sun was once again tickling his eyelids but Alfred didn't have his blankets to block them. Getting up, he pushed his glasses aside so that he could rub at his eyes. "Arthur," he called. Looking up he was saddened when he didn't see his love near him. He got up on shaky legs and called again, "Arthur!" A smile graced his face when he saw the blonde come out from the water. He ran to meet him half way and picked him up to spin with him in circles before bringing him in for a kiss. And another. And another. And another, making Arthur giggle. "Sorry, dude, I just," He paused to kiss his lover again, "I just really wanted to do that."

"You'll have forever to kiss me," said Arthur when Alfred finally put him down.

"Dude, that doesn't mean I don't want to kiss you now! Come on," Alfred picked up Arthur bridal style and ran back to the castle. "We've got a wedding plan."

"P-put me down, you git. I can walk you know!" Arthur blushed in embarrassment when he noticed that his brother still watching and buried his face in Alfred's neck.

Alfred just laughed and kissed his pouting lover, "You're too cute when you're all flustered you know that?"

Robert blushed and when he saw how much affection the human was showering his youngest sibling with. Clearing his throat he turned to his friend, "Where's Feli? I want to give him legs too."

"He left."

"What? Why? I thought he wanted to be with his human too."

Rodrich rubbed at his neck awkwardly, "Well, it's not that he doesn't love Ludwig…it's more like he's heart broken."

"What happened?" The brunette merman sighed and told his friend what had occurred over the course of the past three days.

* * *

Ludwig sped up his jog to a run when he spotted the familiar curl, his heart beating rapidly and grin becoming wider. That is until he caught sight of an olive colored tail instead of the beautiful dark aqua. "W-who are you? Where's Feliciano?" Ludwig was confused when he saw an older version of his love glare at him with pity.

"He went home," answered Lovino after studying the human before him. "I just came here to give you this." He pulled out the Iron Cross necklace he'd managed to take off of Natasha during the struggle. "He didn't-…just here."

The German took the necklace numbly. "Why didn't _he_ give it to me? Wait! Please, where is he?"

"I already said that he went home," growled Lovino irritably. Then he added softly, "Don't worry. He just needs time to process everything that's happened. I'm sure you'll see him again soon." Lovi dove down into the sea leaving behind the heart broken blonde.

It wasn't until midday that Ludwig had finally made his way home. He was welcomed with the sight of Elizabeta swooning at the new happy couple. Gilbert rushed to pull his brother in a head lock, "Where were you, bruder? We're celebrating the Alfie's engagement with his merman and the fact that the Arschloch and his freak sister are gone for good. Can you believe that the dude you had in the room with you was actually a chick?! Man that was a really twisted family." The albino looked over his brother's shoulder, "Speaking of engagements, where's _your_ cutie at?" The others stopped talking and looked over at Ludwig but the young German ignored them all and opted to go to his bedroom in silence.

Gilbert scratched at his cheek. "I'm going to go see if he's ok." Turning back to his friends he grinned, "I'm sure it's nothing. Why don't you guys keep eating? I'll be right back." The albino quickly walked to his brother's room and entered without knocking. "Luddy?" He sighed when he saw his brother's bulky form under the covers. "Luddy, come on, tell big bruder what happened."

"You already know," grumbled Ludwig through the heavy covers. He sniffed miserably, ashamed at himself for being so stupid. "I hurt him."

"…emotionally or," and then he remembered the bloody knees and swollen wrist. "Ah. I'm sorry."

"For what? _You_ didn't do anything wrong. _You_ didn't nearly sleep with a stranger. _You_ didn't hurt the one person who means the world, _I_ did. Not you, me!"

"Ok, ok. No need to snap, all you have to do is apologize and explain and I'm sure little Feli will understand. I mean you were under a spell just like Alfred. Right?" Gilbert watched the covers shake and he knew that his proud brother was crying. "Oh."

"I thought I was with him, Gilbert. I thought I was with Feliciano. I didn't know, he sounded _just_ like him. He had the Iron Cross necklace I gave him, he told me about the promise we made when we were children. He told me that only an insane merman would be crazy enough to trade his voice for legs and now that I think about it, Feli traded the one thing that is very dear to a merman just to get a chance to see me and I rewarded him by hurting him. What kind of lover am I?"

"Well, in your defense, Nathan or Natasha whatever the hell her name was using Feli's voice. And the freak liked messing with people's minds so…yeah."

"You told me you were ashamed of me."

"Well, yeah but that was before I knew-"

"Doesn't matter!" Ludwig sat up to glare at his brother. "I should've known better. I never should've let that thing in my room!"

Gilbert sat quietly for a moment. It was strange seeing his brother like this. Last time he remembered it was when the kid was …well, just a kid. They'd come home the summer after they left and he and their father all but ran out to the pier excitedly. Wolfgang had taken a picnic basket of pasta and wine and Ludwig had a new toy boat that he wanted to show Feli. When the albino asked his mom she just patted his head and smiled knowingly, 'why don't you go with them? Maybe they'll introduce you to their friends.' So he tagged along with them but these so called friends never came. Never came the next day nor the next. Eventually his father stopped going but Ludwig never did. He'd spend the next three summers waiting on that pier until they sent both him and his brother to Alfred's.

"Do you think he still loves me?"

The albino sighed, "Well, _I_ think so." He reached out and rubbed small circles on Ludwig's shoulder. Yeah, he saw how the merman would stare lovingly at his brother even before they knew who he was. There was no doubt in his mind that Feli felt just as strongly but…then there was that one factor. Would Feli get legs again and join them all on the surface like Arthur did? Or was this love doomed to end in a tragedy from the start? Wait a sec. "Hey, Luddy?"

"Hmm?"

"You know how Arthur got legs from his brother? Do you think you could get a tail? And if you could would you?"

Before Ludwig got the chance to respond a gentle knock came at the door before it opened. Matthew walked in with a letter, "Sorry for intruding but Alfred wants to get married within a week and he was wondering if we could borrow one of your birds, Gilbert."

"Er, sure thing, Birdie but why doesn't he just use his eagle?"

"He wants to invite your father and Liberty doesn't know that path yet."

"Oh, well, yeah. We can use Freiheit; it's been a while since he's stretched his wings." Gilbert gave his brother another pat on the shoulder before getting up and escorting his boyfriend to the aviary.

* * *

Merfolk sat around in the concert hall as Robert gave his speech in regards to the death of Ivan and welcoming back all those who he had kept prisoner. "And in light of the fact that magic saved my brother, Arthur, I hereby lift the ban on magic. All those interested in practicing it must first obtain a license to do so. Registration for classes for it will begin the late fall at the Atlantica Academy. Also, Prince Arthur will be forging a union with a surface dweller," he paused for a moment to let it sink in. "It…due to that union I will also allow you to visit the surface if that is what you wish. I simply urge you to be careful, while the humans around these waters are not what I expected, I can't help but be wary of the rest. So if you _do_ choose to go to other waters, do so with caution. That is all; thank you and as always stay away from nets." Robert gave a bow before returning back to his family. He saw Feli sitting on the couch playing with a baby seahorse.

David sat next to Feliciano with another baby seahorse, "Aren't they cute? Murphy's mount just gave birth to them a few days ago."

"Ve~," murmured Feli as one attached itself to his wrist. The prince giggled and tried to unwrap the seahorse from his friend, blushing when his fingers brushed Feli's tanned skin. "Your majesty," Feli quickly got up and offered a bow when Robert swam closer to them.

"You don't have to do that, Feli." Robert lifted him by the shoulders, not missing when the young merman flinched at his touch. The red head sighed and helped him back on the couch and placed a hand over his bruised abdomen, "I'm so sorry about this. I truly never meant to hurt you."

"It's ok. I don't really feel it anymore."

Robert shook his head, "No, Feli. It's not ok. I'm the king and as king, it's my duty to keep you all safe, not inflict pain. As such, I'd like to offer you what I gave Arthur."

"Legs?"

"Well, yeah. Would you like that?" Feli looked away for a moment in thought while beside him he could hear David's breath come to a halt. Legs. He could be with Ludwig if he had them but then…from where he sat he could see Lovino and Antonio bickering. Rather, Lovi was bickering while Antonio was trying to smother him in kisses. "You don't have to decide now, I know that you'd be leaving a lot behind. But if it helps your decision, you and Arthur will always be welcomed back whenever you want to visit. You're lungs will remain that of a merman and if you want your tail back you'll have it." Robert began to swim away before remembering something, "I uh, I've fixed everything I-uh-damaged. It's at the cavern only I wasn't sure where everything went so it's-"

"Ve~ I understand, sir. Thank you. Oh! Um, Robert?"

"Yes?"

"Could…could I go visit Arthur? I'd like to help him plan the wedding." Robert smiled and gave him a nod making Feli rush to give him a grateful hug. "Grazie! Can I go now?"

"I'll go with him," offered David after placing the seahorses in their crib. "I want to see, Arthur too." The red head raised an eyebrow but allowed them to go. "We'll be back later. Come one, Feli!" The blonde merman took a hold of his friend's hand before taking off. "Er…where's the castle again?" Feli laughed and led the prince to the surface.

It was only a short swim over; oddly enough Atlantica was only a half mile from Alfred's palace which would make daily trips to visit effortless. Feli's heart raced as thoughts of running into Ludwig occurred to him. Perhaps he could avoid him if he did see him. He wasn't ready to face him after what happened with Natasha. What he saw couldn't just be unseen. His eyes narrowed as he recalled how she was straddled on his hips how he was flushed with-no…don't think about it! Feli wiped at his eyes to get rid of the tears and pulled himself out of the water. This was supposed to be a happy time, no need to worry Arthur because of his miserable love life. Speaking of which, "Artie!"

Arthur looked out of the dining room window and saw Feli waving at him with his brother at his side. He waved back and opened the window, "Hey! I was wondering where you went!" Turning back to Alfred he asked, "Do you think that we could continue the discussion outside? My brother and Feliciano are downstairs and I'd very much like to see them."

"Heck yeah!" Alfred rushed to go get a chest of ice, "We can have ice cream and stuff. Lizzy, do we still have some of that sea salt kind?"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes, "You know dear, why don't you leave the planning to us. It's bad luck for the groom to see all this stuff before the wedding you know."

"But we're _both_ grooms. Won't it be bad luck if Artie see's it too?"

"Well, uh, hmm…I don't know. Well, we're just going to be talking about décor and such, why don't you go talk with the idiot chef about food?"

"But Arthur-"

"Won't be going anywhere, Al. Go on now, shoo." Elizabeta took the chest of iced sweets from her prince and shooed him away as she and Arthur made their way to the outside patio. She gushed when she saw Feli. "Look at you! You look so adorable with that tail of yours."

Feli smiled shyly, "Grazie." Climbing over a rock he slid down to the small pool and swam closer to them. "Hey, Arthur. Are you ok?"

"I'm splendid!" Arthur stifled a snigger when he saw how David rolled over the rock and fell into the pool ungraciously. "David, what are you doing up here?" He bent over to give his brother a hug. "I didn't think you'd be interested in visiting the surface."

David shrugged, "Oh you know, I was curious. Not to mention I escorted Feli here."

"I see."

The four sat and enjoyed their icy sweet treats as they discussed the details for the wedding. Arthur absolutely refused to wear a dress despite how much Elizabeta pleaded with him. He settled for an inverted colored suit based off of Alfred's own. So instead of the dark blue coat and white pants he'd wear a white coat with dark blue pants and black boots. Feli drew out some designs, keeping the sea military in mind. Though it hadn't been required of him, he had undergone training with his more military prone brothers, Robert and Christian. Flowers he had decided that blue hydrangeas would be best due to how pretty they were and because they reminded him of the water. He particularly liked how so many tiny blossoms came together to form a single entity. David didn't speak much during the visit, though it didn't escape Elizabeta how the merman would glance at Feli from time to time and blush whenever he'd 'accidently' brushed his fin with the Italian's own.

The sun was beginning to cast pink and orange hues across the horizon when Elizabeta went back inside and David decided to head back home. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me," he asked Feli.

"No, it's ok. I want to stay a bit longer." Feli bit at his thumb nail and avoided eye contact with the blonde merman.

"I can wait if you want."

"No, really, it's fine. I can manage."

"Are you-"

"Yes, he's bloody sure!" Arthur frowned at his brother. "Just leave us alone, we want to talk."

David stuck his tongue out at his little brother, "Whatever. I was just trying to be a gentleman. Later." He pulled himself over the bolder before disappearing back into the sea. Arthur waited until he the ripples stopped expanding to look at his friend.

"Please tell me you've noticed that."

Feli shrugged. "I've noticed for a while now." He chuckled weakly at how wide his friend's eyes got. "You didn't know?"

"No! If I did I would've tried to sway him off the chase. You don't feel the same obviously…right?"

"Of course I don't." The auburn haired merman ran a hand through his hair before looking up at the window where he figured Ludwig's room was. The two friends stayed quiet for a few minutes, simply enjoying the calming sound of waves break over the shore. Each were needed to say something to the other but were worried about what the answer would be should they ask. "Arthur, if I tell you-"

"Feli I want to ask-" They stared at one another and giggled. "Sorry. You were going to say?"

"No, you go first. What's up, Artie?"

Arthur blushed and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I was wondering… um, when are _you_ going to move up here with us? Did Robert offer you legs as well? He did right?"

Feli looked away and bit his thumb nail again in thought. How to answer this? Pulling his tortured nail away from his mouth he looked up to Ludwig's window again, this time finding the German staring out of it right at him. "He did but…I didn't accept."

"What? Why the hell not?"

"Arthur, if I tell you something, promise you won't get mad." He waited for his friend to nod. When he did, the Italian merman flicked his tail back and forth slowly, "It was never really my dream to live up here. I only ever did because of Ludwig." He looked away from Ludwig's blue eyes and turned to Arthur's green. "I don't know if I can make that sacrifice again."

The blonde cocked his head to the side in confusion. "I don't understand."

"I want to be with him, believe me there isn't anything I want more but…I can't get the image of Natasha on top of him out of my head. I can't get the sounds I heard…I just I don't know if I can be near him and not think about what I saw."

Arthur reached out to wipe a tear from his friend's eye, "You know that Natasha tricked him right? He loves only you. I mean, Ivan convinced Alfred to throw me into prison and almost married him but I'm ok with it. Well I'm not but, everything worked out in the end. Things could work out for you too if you're willing to try."

"Would you feel the same way if you saw Alfred naked with a half-naked Ivan on top of him? Then for him to yell and you and make you feel like it was your fault and then pushing you away when you tried desperately to prove him that you were who you said you were? I could forgive him hurting my physically if he thought that I was an intruder but I told him who I was. He believed me and then for him to just change his mind about me because some bitch using _my_ voice told him I was an imposter-" Feli narrowed his eyes in anger, "I don't know if I'm ok with that. I don't know if I'm willing to give up my life under the sea for a man who didn't even give me the proper chance to explain!"

Green eyes blinked rapidly as the blonde merman took in everything Feli just said. It was rare to hear his friend use foul language; usually it was his brother who resorted to use such colorful words on a daily basis. Then again, he supposed he could understand his anger. Just the remembering Ivan snuggling close to his Alfred was enough to make his blood boil; he could only imagine what it must've been like had his roles been reversed with Feli and it _he_ had walked in on Alfred and Ivan in an intimate position. He'd probably had been sent to prison for murder. Arthur sighed and tried to calm his friend down with soothing circles at his shoulder. "What about me?"

"Ve?"

"What if you get legs so that you could stay with me?"

Feli's eyes softened and he placed a tanned hand over Arthur's pale. "You know that you are one of the best friends I've ever had. I don't think I've ever told you. At first you scared me because you were a prince and I when I was sent to you I thought that I was going to be your servant or something. Never did I think that the youngest son of King Triton was going to be like a brother to me. I never even thought that it was a possibility to make friends with the royal family."

Arthur chuckled, "Well, you do have that thing that seems to make everyone around you love you."

"So do you. If people just took the time to gently coax you out of your shell, then they'd see what an amazing person you are. Though with Alfred, it would seem like he had a bowl of tasty pasta at the end of your shell. You were quick to open up to him."

"I don't know why. I just…it felt right. You know? I guess when you love someone as much as I love Alfred, you're not afraid to expose yourself to them. No, that's not right. You _are_ afraid but you do it anyway because you trust them enough to love you despite what they see."

Feli grinned, "When did you become such a poet?"

"Sh-shut up! I'm trying to be deep here."

"Should I get you a hat?" The two shared a laugh before settling down. "In all seriousness, Artie, I think it's time for you to live your own life, use you're youthful energy on having fun with Alfred. You're going to have a husband now and I don't think you'll have much time for me. It'll be ok." Feli pulled fished out a seashell from his satchel and broke it in half, "We're always going to be friends no matter what. If you ever need me just flick this. I'll come swimming as fast as I can."

"What is this?"

"My grandpa made a few of them. He gave me one and he held on to the other half and whenever I was scared or just wanted a hug I'd flick it along the side like this and his half would vibrate. Then he would come to me no matter where he was."

Arthur tucked his half safely into his breast pocket, "Thank you, Feli. Really, thank you for being such a good friend to me. I know I could be difficult sometimes."

"Think nothing of it. I know I can be a bit too silly sometimes too but you stayed when others would just push me away."

"You guys know I'm not going to stop y'all from seeing each other, right?" The two mermen looked up in surprise to see Alfred grinning lazily at them, Ludwig standing awkwardly next to him. "Hi, just came out to say that dinner was almost ready. Do you want to join us, Feliciano? We can get a tub or something so you can come inside or we can just bring the food out here. The night is a pretty one."

"Ve…" Feli felt Ludwig's eyes on him and he fidgeted under the intense stare. "Th-thank you but I have to get home. I told my family that I would be back by night time." Turning to Arthur he grinned, "I'll be back in the morning so I can start making you your suite. Buonanotte."

And so the week progressed, Feli would swim up to the surface to work with Elizabeta and Arthur with the wedding details. Ludwig would sometimes carry him inside so that he could work on the suit. It was during those few minutes that the German would try to talk to his merman love but Feli would only reply with simple phrases or one word answers. If he was lucky. Eventually Ludwig gave up all together and immersed himself in his tasks for the wedding to keep his mind off the ever growing depression that seemed to grow with every brush off Feli would give him. His tasks mostly included making sure repairs to the wedding vessel were completed in time and that's were Alfred and his father found him. With hammer in hand barking orders to the workers.

"You catch more flies with honey, son." Wolfgang gave a reassuring pat on a worker that walked by him, "Don't mind my boy, he just wants to make sure his best friend's wedding is perfect. Isn't that right, Luddy?" Ludwig grunted and wiped at his forehead.

"Dude, I think you should take a break. You've been out here since this morning." Alfred leaned against the rail and watched his friend pick up another nail. "Is this really because you have an OCD for perfection or…" He trailed off when a flash of pain ran through Ludwig's face but it was quickly masked with a frown.

"Why wouldn't I want tomorrow to be perfect," asked Ludwig as he brought his hammer down hard cursing when he missed the head and struck his finger. "Scheiße!" The blonde brought his index finger and thumb to his mouth.

Wolfgang gently took the hammer from his son's hand and gave it to another worker before leading both Ludwig and Alfred off the ship. "You know, son, sometimes the universe has funny ways of showing people when you're lying. Gilbert already told me what happened, talk about shitty luck."

"Vati, luck has nothing to do with what happened. I just…I don't even know any more." He watched as Arthur helped Feli back into the water before the merman swam away again. "He doesn't even look at me let alone talk to me." Ludwig looked down at his blue seashell bracelet, "Maybe…maybe I should just-"

"Boy, don't you even dare _think_ about giving up." Ludwig looked up when he heard his father growl that out. Even Alfred had jumped a bit, not at all used to hearing the older German raise his voice. "Prince Alfred, would give my son and I a moment?"

"S-sure thing, sir. I'm going to go see if Arthur needs anything. Later, Luddy." Alfred dashed inside his castle in search of his fiancé.

Ludwig sighed and sat down at the patio with his father feeling a bit tense about what Wolfgang had to say to him. The older German took a seat across from his son and looked into the horizon for a few moments to collect his thoughts. "Do you remember Romulus?"

"He was Feli's grandpa," answered Ludwig almost immediately. "We never saw him after we left the summer home."

"Well yes and no. I wouldn't expect you to remember much of him because you'd always hang around his grandson." Wolfgang chuckled a bit at his son's blush. "He actually stopped coming before that. I remember it was after I introduced your mother to him."

"Muti knew about him and Feli?" This was news to Ludwig and he wondered why she never mentioned it or came to his defense when Gilbert would tease him.

"Mhmm. She was curious of the man who had…taken her husband's interest away from her." Wolfgang coughed to hide a blush. "You, er, are aware of the arrangement between your muti and I correct?"

"I was made aware of it, yes. I just never knew that you actually…"

"I didn't. Though I knew your mother wouldn't mind, she encouraged it actually, it didn't sit well with me that I would've been happy when her own lover was so far away from her. So I didn't pursue it. After talking to Feli, I really wish I did."

"You spoke with Feli? What did he say? Did he mention me at all?" Ludwig looked at his father desperately for answers but settled down when he saw that his dad wasn't going to spill whatever the little Italian merman said.

"Romulus died the day we left, he came to see you a few days later but by that time we were long gone. His brother sent for him so that he could go to a place called Atlantica to live with him and the royal merfamily. That's why he didn't show up those summers ago."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, son. I made a terrible mistake by not trying hard enough to make my feelings for Romulus known to him. He died not knowing that his own feelings were reciprocated and now I have to live with the curiosity of what could've been."

"But, Vati, I _want_ to talk to him. _He's_ the one who doesn't want anything to do with me!"

"Well, not to say that I agree with how he's handling things but I seriously think it could've gone a lot worse."

"What would you have me do?"

"What _would_ you do?"

"Anything if it meant that I could be with him again." Ludwig crossed his arms and tried to keep his blush from reaching his ears. This whole experience was really taking a toll on him but he bared with it. He could only imagine how his little love was feeling.

* * *

Lovino was pacing his kitchen. Enough. He'd had about enough of all this brooding and weeping. Honestly! All Feli had to do is say yes to the legs and he'd get his happily ever after as well. But no, he was being stubborn. Earlier in the week Lovi had tried to convince his brother to accept Robert's offer but Feli had just given a hug and a kiss on the cheek before he retreated back to the cave he shared with Arthur. Later that night when he tried to approach the subject again the young merman had thrown a fit, yelling things about how he just wanted to get rid of him because Antonio was back. That couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth but it still stung that his little brother thought that Lovi would do such a thing. After an hour of sobbing and asking for forgiveness, Feli confessed that he loved his life in the sea too much before taking off to the cave once again. That had seriously worried Lovino; as far as he was concerned, Feli lived and breathed for his stupid potato bastard. Him saying something so out of character was really nerve wrecking.

The older Italian stopped swimming back and forth when Antonio entered the kitchen but the sad look on his face told him that things didn't work out so well. His eyes lowered to the full plate of seaweed pasta, "He still doesn't want to eat?" Scratch that, Feli turning down his favorite meal was more nerve wrecking.

Antonio shook his head sadly, "And to be honest I'm really starting to worry about him, mi amor. All he does is go to the surface and then come straight back to that cave. What is he even doing in there?"

Lovi sighed and rubbed his temples, "He's probably organizing it again. Che palle! What's it going to take to get through to him?"

"I could try." Both mermen turned to see David at the doorway. He flushed under their intense stares, "I could see if he wants some food."

"You know, you could try all you want there's no guarantee that he's going to take food from you. Let alone accept any advances."

"What advances?"

"Please, a sponge could see what you're trying to do. Listen to me kid and listen to me well," Lovi took the plate of pasta and handed it over to the prince, "Do not get your hopes up. What Feli is going through is only temporary."

David narrowed his eyes, "You know I'm getting tired of hearing that. Why is it so hard to believe that Feli is trying to move on?"

"And why is it so hard to believe that he was meant for that potato bastard? Yeah that's right. As much as it pisses me off its true, I can see things like that because of my scales. Lukas even confirmed it when I asked him. Whatever is uniting them is strong and highly rare, even amongst us merfolk. So you can try all you want, I just don't want you to get yourself hurt in the process."

"Whatever." David took the plate of pasta and left.

Lovino watched the prince leave before reaching a decision. Sure he was never good at magic but there was one thing that he excelled at. Heck, he could bet his bottom sanddollar that he was even superior in it than Lucas and Robert combined. "Come on, Tonio. I have an idea."

"Where are we going, Tesoro?" Antonio let his lover drag him out of the kitchen and towards the city where he knew Tino and his family was staying.

"I need to get some things from Lukas to make a potion to help my idiot brother's love life."

"Oh, ok!"

* * *

It hadn't taken David too long to reach the cave but it had taken him a few minutes to figure out how to open the door and another two more to keep the door open long enough for him to get through without dropping the food. He'd only ever been inside once and that was on a dare from his older brothers Murphy and Connor. They knew how cranky Arthur could get when his privacy was invaded.

David swam slowly through the cavern, pausing only when he heard Feli muttering to himself. Peeking around the wall he saw the merman carefully hanging one of the paintings Robert had restored. "There two ink splatters down fifteen to go," he said with a sigh. Swimming back he ran his eyes to the half organized cavern. "I looked at this stuff, thought it was neat. Who would've thought the collection would remain in-complete?" He trailed off before picking up another trinket, "And as I look at this trough, at the treasures untold, I realize that there's something I'll never be able to hold." Feli picked up pot and placed it on the shelf with trembling hands humming a tune to himself as he continued to line the shelves with figurines. He then started to string the compasses and pocket watches on their hooks, "There's gadgets and gizmos a plenty and whozits and whatzits galore. The thingamabobs? There's too many. And who cares? It's no big deal when there's no one here." He stopped organizing the things that needed to be hung and picked up the dancing couple figurine he gave Arthur. Running his hands across the man he spinned it gently so that it would play its tune, "I wanted to be where the people are but only because I wanted to see _him_ dancing. Wanted to walk arm in arm down on…what was it again? Ah, street!"

Feli smiled to himself as he recalled his date with Ludwig. Then he recalled Natasha and what he walked in on. His smile evaporated and he tears welled in his eyes again. Why did he have to keep remembering that?! He realized that Ludwig was trying his hardest to talk to him, it didn't escape his notice how the blonde's heart would race every time he carried him inside the palace when he'd go up to work on Arthur's wedding suit. How his blue eyes would light up with hope when he caught the merman looking his way. Or how he'd hold him protectively against his strong chest, fingers discretely rubbing against his the soft scales of his tail in gentle caresses, the palms of his other hand pressing so tenderly against his shoulder. Everything the German did proclaimed how much Feli obviously meant to him and while the merman wanted nothing more than to press his lips against the others, that damn memory kept popping into his mind. Natasha's smirk when he entered further enraged him so he would just ignore all these painfully obvious signs from Ludwig.

Sinking back onto a rock, Feli figured he'd done enough cleaning for today. He did after all find what he had originally been looking for. He sighed and looked up towards the opening in the cavern where the sun's rays were peeking in and slightly warming the spot he was on. David cleared his throat and swam closer with the plate of pasta, "I brought this over. Antonio and Lovi said that you hadn't eaten and well…I was wondering if you'd like to share with me."

The auburn haired merman looked at his friend's brother then at the pasta. Yeah he hadn't been eating, but truth be told he didn't feel like it. What was the point? As if to contradict his thoughts, his stomach gave a loud growl making him blush in embarrassment. "Grazie, David. I guess it doesn't hurt to have a bite."

David grinned and sat next to him, gently handing over the plate of still warm seaweed pasta. The prince looked around the cave and whistled, "Wow, you and Artie really did collect a lot huh? You're doing a good job in putting it back to how it was before."

"Thank you." The sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound was that of Feli chewing every now and again. David rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Hey, Feli?"

"Hmm?"

"If you aren't doing anything later tonight, would you like to go see Murphy and Connor at the track? They're racing against the Vaporian brothers and, well...I was thinking maybe you and me could go. And then maybe after wards we could go do something else."

Feli sighed and put the now empty plate on a small table, "David, I'm glad that you've been spending time with me. Especially since I know that right now I'm not exactly in one of my better moods." Taking the prince's pale hand in his he met David's green eyes. "But, I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"Because of that human?" When Feli let go of his hand David ran it through his hair in thought. "You know if you like him so much, why are you down here sulking?"

"Ve?"

"I don't know what happened entirely but from my understanding, Ivan's sister tricked him or something right? Then he tried to hook up with her thinking she was you. In his defense he thought he was with you and when he threw a fit when you interrupted, it was only because he thought you were interrupting his private time with you."

"I know."

"What? Then what's the problem?"

"What I saw…"

"You love him don't you?"

"More than I've ever loved anyone."

"And you want to be with him?"

"Desperatly."

"No matter what?"

"…you see that's one of the problems. I want that but I don't know how. I don't want to leave my home again. When I was up there, I was happy but I was also sad. Happy because I was with him, sad because I wasn't in here. The surface is nice and all but it doesn't beat the sea. But that is minor stuff," Feli hugged himself, "the important stuff still lies in the fact that no matter what, no matter how hard I try or how mad I want to, I cannot get the image of someone else with my Ludwig. I get that he thought he was with me, I really do. I can even admire the fact that he tried to protect 'me' but-"

"Nope!"

"Ve?"

"Nope, nope, nope. No buts. Here's how I see it. You love the dude and he loves you right? If you keep thinking about it and don't try to move forward, you are going to end up killing yourself. It's like fishes and sharks, they stop moving they die cause they run out of air." David kicked back and let himself float beside Feli with his arms behind his back, "Natasha was a devilfish, we've established that but the good part is that she and Ivan are dead so a repeat of what happened _won't_ happen. But she's not really dead."

Feli cocked his head to the side in confusion, "She isn't?"

"Not if you keep her alive in your memories she not. And I bet that sea wrench is rolling in her grave in laughter because she knows that she's still causing you harm even in the water beyond ours." David saw Feli's amber eyes lower in sadness and he sighed again. Putting a hand on the Italian's shoulder he continued, "Our souls are like those ink splatters you got on the wall but then as we grow older or whatever, they start to lose pieces of what the image was. Through our life's experiences we get some of those pieces back but no matter how many of them we get back or how complete the image may see, there will always be that one little piece that'll be missing. Some people go all their lives not realizing it's missing, like my brother's Connor and Murphy. Of course they've got each other so who knows, maybe their ink splatter is complete and I just don't know it. But then there are some people like you who have already found that piece but had it ripped away."

"Sometimes when things are handled roughly they get damaged. And if that's the case then how will the picture look?"

"Freaking awesome! That's because even though it's a little rough around the edges, you still managed to get the piece back in. I think it makes it look even better because it shows that it withstood whatever hardships it was thrown. Kinda like scars right? They fade-"

"But they don't disappear."

"Yet they are reminders that you persevered. At least that's what Christian is always telling us." David pointed to a scar on his forearm, "Got this when I saved my little brother from a shark when we were younger. Bastard nearly took my bloody arm off."

Feliciano flicked his tail back and forth in thought, letting what David told him sink in. When put like that it made perfect sense. It even explained why his chest felt so hallow; it was missing the piece that was Ludwig dearly. He smiled then started to laugh, "Thank you, David!" Feli reached over to pull his friend into a hug. "I'll talk to him tomorrow after the wedding." The Italian merman picked up the empty plat and swam out of the cavern.

David watched until he couldn't see the trail of bubbles left behind by Feli's excited departure. Slinking back down onto a rock he glanced up to the opening of the cave, "You can come out now, Roddy."

A blue crab slowly made his way out of a fallen vase before transforming back into a merman. Rodrich eyed his prince with surprise, "I never thought you'd actually be the one to make him see what all of us have been trying to make him see."

"I'm not stupid. I know I act like a jerk but…I'm not really. And all the cheesy stuff about puzzles, well, I didn't make it up. After Robert fixed everything, I found this book by some guy named Plato who thought that our souls were made of three parts." David shrugged, "I had nothing better to do so I showed it to Kyle and we talked about it and I came up with the puzzle thing."

"I see." Rodrich pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. "But what possessed you to tell Feli that? One would've thought that you wouldn't have encouraged him to forgive Ludwig."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. In your own way of course."

"Hm."

"Why?"

David chewed on his bottom lip as he contemplated how to answer the question when he finally shook his head with a grin, "Guess that no matter how much you try to pound the piece into place, if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit." He got up and began to swim towards to mouth of the cave, "No matter how much you want it to."

* * *

Arthur woke up to the gentle tugs and coos of his fiancé. Groaning he tried to pull the covers over his head until he realized what day it was. "Oh blast!"

"Heh," said Alfred with a grin as he tried to pull the covers back, "you ready for our big day?"

"G-get out, you git! Don't tug on that," cried the blonde merman. "It's bad luck to see each other before the wedding."

"But I already saw you. You look so cute when you're sleeping by the way." Alfred tugged harder and managed to reveal messy blonde hair, "come on, babe. You know you want to kiss me."

Arthur pulled the covers away from his face and scowled playfully, "I don't know, after all the kissing we did last night, I don't think I'm up for more."

"What?!"

He giggled at Alfred's horrified expression and pulled his pouting lover in for a kiss, "There. Now seriously, you need to get out before Elizabeta comes in and threatens you with her pan. I don't want my groom to be bruised for our big day."

Alfred rolled on top of him with arms on either side, "I'm a hero, no way is she going to force me away from my little merman without a fight." As he leaned in for more kisses he stopped mid-way when he heard the sound of metal gently hitting the flesh of an open palm.

"Is that so?" Elizabeta stared down her prince. Part of her wanted to let him have his way but another part knew that there would be plenty of time for that _after_ the wedding. "Want to try me, Alfie?"

"Uh," the blue eyed prince scrambled to get up. "N-no, Lizzy. I have to uh-I'm going to go change into my uniform." He leaned over for one last kiss before dashing out of the room.

Elizabeta giggled, "Sorry about that, dear, but you know what they say about the groom seeing his beloved before the wedding."

"I do." Arthur got up and stretched, "We have the same superstition in Atlantica." He started to remove his clothing to get into the tub Elizabeta was starting to prepare for him. "Is Feliciano here yet?"

"I think so." The Hungarian looked up from checking the water temperature, "I saw Gilbert helping him board the ship." A gentle knock at the door made her quickly help Arthur into the sudsy water before answering it. "Speak of the idiot and he shall appear."

"Why do I always have to be the idiot," whined Gilbert as he handed over Feli. "Can't you for once call me by my name and not add 'idiot' before it? I'll have you know, intelligence is my middle name." Gilbird chirped in agreement.

The housekeeper took the merman from the albino and raised an eyebrow, "Then you're first name must be, 'I-have-no.'" She giggled at the look he sent her before shutting the door in his face.

Gilbert grumbled as he walked past Ludwig and Alfred's shared room. Inside, the German was fixing his the cords on his uniform while Alfred ran a comb through his hair. "You know this has got to be, hands down one of the best days of my life!" The blonde prince jumped up and down in excitement, "I'm getting married, dude!"

"Ja, I know, Alfred." Ludwig smoothed back his hair with a sigh.

"Don't sound so enthusiastic. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Is this about Feli?" When his friend didn't respond, Alfred stopped jumping. "You know he asked for you this morning."

"He did?" The taller blonde turned to face his friend, "What did he say? Is he here already? Where is he? I want to talk to him."

"Dude, chill out. He just wanted to see you but I told him that you were still asleep. He's probably in Arthur's room getting rea- Hey!" Alfred pulled Ludwig back in the room and shut the door, "You can't just barge in there. Artie's getting ready."

"But-"

"But nothing. Just wait till after the wedding."

"But-"

"Dude! What did I just say? No buts!" Alfred forced his friend to sit down and started to go on and on about this new thing Gilbert learned to make and how it had become his new favorite food. Max got up and stretched before walking out of the room through his kitty door and past Arthur's room to find out for himself what this so called hamburger tasted like. If he was lucky, maybe he could swipe one from the buffet table.

Arthur looked at himself in the mirror just as Elizabeta attached the medal baring the royal crest near his breast pocket. "There," she cried happily, "you're ready."

"Not yet!" Feliciano dug out a small box from his satchel and motioned Arthur to him. "Remember that day Damien attacked us?"

"Unfortunately." The merprince shuddered at the thought. "Why?"

"Well, that day I found this in the wreckage and I think it'll be perfect for you to wear." The Italian merman opened the box and pulled out the gem encrusted pin. "It's blue and old!"

"Feli, it's beautiful. Is it really ok for me to have this?"

"Of course!" Feliciano reached over and pinned it next to the crest. "There, _now _you're ready."

Elizabeta giggled and ran a brush through Feli's hair before picking him up. "Let's go boys, I can hear the bells ringing."

The wedding went by without a hitch. Matthew performed the ceremony once again only this time he did so with almost as much enthusiasm as his brother, a smile not leaving his face as the ceremony progressed. The couple said their 'I dos' and presented each other with their wedding bands before meeting for a kiss to seal their union. Beside Arthur, Feli clapped happily for his friend and husband while Ludwig did the same beside Alfred. The guests both on the ship and in the sea clapped just as loudly for the happy couple. Max gave a happy meow before jumping in between his master and his new husband, licking both with delighted purr. Arthur chuckled and patted the Maine Coon on his furry head.

Ludwig had caught Feliciano's eye more than once during the ceremony and couldn't help but smile. His heart beat raced with hope that his little love would forgive him for what transpired and would accept him as his lover. He reached into his pocket for and panicked when he couldn't find what he was looking for. "Scheiße," he muttered to himself as he checked his breast pocket, "Where did it-ah! I must've left it in my room." He excused himself and as calmly as he could, he rushed to his room in search of the small red box he was going to present to his Feli.

Beside Gilbert, Elizabeta wiped her tears on a handkerchief while the albino gave out a joyous shout echoed by Francis and Antonio. The two mermen had climbed onto the rail of the ship to toss petals at the two grooms and somehow had managed to befriend Gilbert almost instantly. They talked amongst themselves until a flash of blue on top of the carefully prepared wedding cake caught the chef's attention. No…it couldn't be. An amused chirp from his head and the sheen of a perfect royal blue confirmed that it was indeed the indestructible little bastard that had sabotaged his perfect dinner for Matthew. "Excuse me for second, guys."

"Ok," answered Francis, "but do make sure to warn Alfred what we told you before they set off for the, honhonhon, for the honey moon." He sent Arthur a mischievous wink before turning to talk to Antonio some more.

"Ja, ja. I will." Gilbert ran into the kitchen to find his cleaver.

Arthur caught the wink and rolled his eyes. Turning to Feli he and Alfred accepted the Italian's hug, "Be good to one another, si?"

"Are you sure you won't reconsider what I asked earlier this week," whispered Arthur.

Feli smiled gently and took Arthur's hand and placed it into Alfred's slightly larger one. "You won't be alone, amico. The both of you are going to have so much fun up here, I know it!" He looked over to where Ludwig was standing only to find him gone. Tears threatened to make an appearance but he fought them down. Perhaps he waited too long and Ludwig had decided to move on with his life. Giving his friends one last smile, "We'll see each other real soon." With those parting words he dove back into the sea where his brother was waiting for him.

Alfred was going to sneak another peck when they heard Gilbert give his battle cry, "I see you there, you little bastard!" Raising his cleaver over his head, the albino rushed towards the cake, slicing it clean in half, only Rodrich jumped out of the way. "Oh no, not this time!" He chased after the screaming crab and tried to nail him to the deck with his smaller knives but Rodrich proved to be too fast.

"Shouldn't we help him," asked Antonio but Francis waved his worry away and took a sip of wine.

Rodrich knew he shouldn't have pressed his luck by going aboard the ship as a crab but he knew he'd be safe. Elizabeta was near and she'd make sure he was safe. Speaking of which, he ducked out of the way just in time as Gilbert tossed him his cleaver. He ran a little faster past the Hungarian and jumped onto the rail. Turning around he saw, the albino's red eyes flash sinisterly and his grin broaden. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his savior and he couldn't help his own smirk from spreading across his face.

"Gilbert!"

"Wha-OW!" Gilbert clutched his injured head and glared at a fuming Elizabeta. "What the hell, Lizzy? That little shit was all over the cake. Look, there he goes!" He scrambled back onto his feet and narrowly dodged another swing from the infamous skillet. Looking over the rail he pointed to Rodrich, "Oi! Four eyes, you see a little blue crab? I saw him jump over."

"I'm sorry, I haven't." Rodrich pushed his glasses up his nose and sent Elizabeta a wink making her bring a hand over her mouth to stop her giggles. Gilbert grumbled in frustration and went back to his boyfriend and new friends. Elizabeta waved shyly to the dark tailed merman before turning away to help serve food to the guests.

"You know if you stare hard enough, you might just burn off her clothing," said Mathias slyly, earning a blush from Rodrich. "Or if you like I could always get my baby brother to _mysteriously_ make it windy."

"Please," sniffed Rodrich. "that kind of behavior is so uncouth. Besides, I-uh- I don't need assistance to know what she," he cleared his throat, "looks like."

Mathias blinked before chortling obnoxiously and slapping his friend on the back, "Way to go, Roddy!"

"Right. Oh, and about your date with Emma…"

"Don't worry about it, man. I already asked her."

"And Lars was ok with it?"

"Sure, turns out he isn't a complete jerk after all. I think we'll be very good friends he and I."

"Lovley."

Ludwig rushed back to the deck with a proud grin. He finally found the damn box after all but destroying his room for it. Now, if only he could locate Feli and-

"He's not here."

The German turned to face Lovino who was helping himself to the stuffed crab, "What?"

"He left."

"But…I thought."

"Yeah, I know. My little brother is an idiot though and he thought he didn't want him anymore because you left before he got to say anything."

"That's not true!" Ludwig looked at the box in his hands and blushed, "I just…I wanted to give him this but I forgot it in my room."

Lovi stopped chewing and eyed the box suspiciously, "Is that what I think it is?"

"I…yes."

"And you think he's going to leave his life behind in the sea for you again? You know he loves it down there." When he saw the heart broken look on the German's face he decided to take pity and stop toying with the human. With a sigh he pulled out a blue flask from his bag and handed it over to the confused blonde. "If you are serious about my brother, drink that. It'll give you a way to be with him but you have to be absolutely certain that this is what you want. The effects are long term and while I'm sure the sea king would be willing to return you to your human state, I won't be able to make this potion again. The ingredients are really rare."

"Th-this will give me a," Ludwig licked his lips to moisten them, "This will make me a merman?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "And what do you want in return? Surely you can't expect me to believe that your just giving me something this rare."

"Che palle! Don't compare me to that sea demon, all I ask is that you make my brother the happiest merman there is. Drink it or don't. Just remember that there are others who would kill to be with him and if you don't hurry and propose to him you just might lose him. I'm going home after the party so make up your mind quick."

"There's a lot to lose here."

"So? My brother had a lot more to lose when he gave up his voice for you. At least _you_ won't be turned into a polyp!"

"A what?"

"Never mind. Just think about it." Lovino took a long sip from his wine and jumped into the water.

Wolfgang came up to his son, "You're going to do it aren't you?"

"Would it upset you if I said I'm seriously considering it?"

"It'd upset me if you weren't." The older German gave his son's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Go get him, son. Be happy, ja? And be sure to invite me to the wedding!" Grin back in place Ludwig went back to his room to collect the box Feli had left behind and take care of some business before drinking the potion Lovino gave him.

Arthur and Alfred stood by the rail as Arthur's brothers came up one by one, lifted by a lifted pillar of water, to congratulate them, or in Murphy and Connor's case, threaten Alfred. "You hurt our little brother," started Murphy.

"And you're dead," finished his twin. Arthur rolled his eyes but couldn't help but fell touched at how much his red headed brothers cared for him. All his life they had been a constant source of teasing but there had been moments where, in their own way, they had showed him affection. Kyle came up to shoo them away with a half-hearted scowl.

The blonde turned to his baby brother and smiled warmly, "I'm so happy for you, Arthur." He reached over and gave him a hug, "I wish you nothing but the best. Just promise that you won't forget about us, lad."

"He ain't gonna forget about us, eh, Artie?" Christian came up in another pillar of water and gently pried Kyle from Arthur so that he could give him a hug as well. "Now, there's no sense in threatenen ya cause I know you know better. Right, boy?" Alfred nodded, desperately trying to keep the grin from his face. He was meeting his husband's brothers. Correction, his _merman_ husband's merman brothers! How much more exciting could it get?! Christain nodded in approval and handed over a shell encrusted box to Arthur. "We won't be here to protect you anymore, Artie so take this."

"What is it?" Arthur opened the box and gasped, "But Chris, this was-"

"Dad's. Yeah. Figured you were the most worthy of us to have it."

"I don't know what to say." Arthur ran a white gloved finger over the black pearl handle then carefully along the darker pearl blade. "Thank you."

"I just hope you never have to use it." Christian looked down and saw that David wanted a turn. "Alright, well, we'll be seeing you, little brother." Kyle gave him a last goodbye and lowered them both to the sea.

David came up and stared at Arthur and Alfred, "I'm glad you found someone to make you happy, Artie. You two stay out of trouble ok? There won't be any big brother's around to save you from sharks this time."

Alfred scoffed, "Maybe not but there will be his heroic husband! Don't worry, babe, I'll save you!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Come off it, I can handle myself well thank you very much." He gave his husband's hand a squeeze before kissing the back of it, "but I do appreciate the gesture, love." Alfred grinned cheekily and claimed his merman's lips.

"Ok," cried David in alarm. "I just wanted to say congrats and good luck. I'll come up every now and again to bother you. Later, baby brother!" David jumped out of the pillar of water and back into the sea before he witnessed any more.

Finally, it was Robert's turn. Arthur pulled away from Alfred and leaned over the rail, gazing at his eldest brother warmly. Despite everything that may have transpired, the lectures he received, he knew that his brother only wanted to the best for him. Robert returned the affectionate gaze and cupped his brother's cheek in his hand, "You've done something today that I never thought possible. You and this young man have formed a union between the land and sea and I for one couldn't be prouder to call you my brother."

Arthur leaned in to the wet hand, his green eyes misting with tears and he brought the red headed king in for a hug, "I love you, Bobby."

Robert returned the hug with gusto, "I love you, too Artie." Bringing his hand to the back of his brother's head he placed a kiss on the younger's forehead, "I love you, too."

The two pulled away when they heard a whimper and looked to Alfred who was biting his lip and trembling with emotion. Arthur caught his eye gave a quick motion of the head towards his brother. Nodding quickly, Alfred placed a hand before on his abdomen and the other behind his back. To the best of his ability given his trembling spell, the blue eyed prince bowed before the sea king. His husband's brothers were mermen and that was cool. But the eldest was freaking Sea King! Unable to hold his position any longer, Alfred began to jump up and down excitedly before rushing over to Robert to give him a hug of his own.

Startled, Robert looked over to Arthur in question but the young merprince simply bit his gloved knuckle to hide his grin. "King Robert, I am so grateful that you gave me the privilege to marry your brother. I promise to limit what we take from the sea and everyone who wishes to come to the surface to visit will be under my protection. You have my word as the prince and hero of this kingdom."

Robert patted the boy's back before releasing him, "I'll hold you to that, Prince Alfred." Summoning his Trident to join him he grinned, "My brother can be a bit short tempered but love him all the same. Make him happy."

Alfred pulled Arthur to his chest and kissed his head affectionately, "Always." The happy couple watched as Robert activated his Trident and waved it above them, casting the prettiest rainbow they've ever seen. Merfolk aboard the ship jumped off and waved their farewell to their prince as the ship hoisted anchor and made their way back to the palace to drop off the guest before the married couple set off for their honeymoon.

* * *

Feli sat in the trough looking at his handy work. After leaving the party he had made his way back home and picked off where he left off in his organization. Everything looked as it had before and it tugged at his heart strings. "Ve~ it may look like before, doesn't mean it will _be_ like before," he said to himself sadly. "A lot has changed."

"Ja, but change can be good, right?" The auburn haired merman stopped flicking his tail when he heard the familiar deep voice. Had that been his imagination? Tentative arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him into a strong chest. That couldn't be his imagination. But how… bracing himself he leaned his head back to look up. Right into baby blue eyes gazing at him with the upmost adoration.

"Impossible." He didn't dare look away in case he really wasn't there. Ludwig lowered his head and kissed him softly. "You're crazy," he mumbled into the kiss.

The German gave a breathy laugh but didn't pull away, instead he kept his lips close to his lovers so that they brushed together with every word he spoke. "Maybe, but people do crazy things when they're in love. And I love you." Feliciano grinned and tackled his lover to the grotto's floor.

"How did this happen though?" Feli looked down at Ludwig, not at all bothering to get up.

"Your brother made a potion for me." Ludwig ran his hand through his lover's auburn hair and looked at him sadly, "I'm so sorry, Feli." Gently taking the wrist he had damaged in his blind rage he brought it to his lips, "I'm so sorry."

"Ve~" Feli bit his lip in thought but then shook his head, "It's ok."

"No, it's not. I-" He was silenced by nimble fingers and Ludwig made a point to kiss each pad.

"I'm sorry for being stubborn. I knew better but…I couldn't help but remember what I saw." Ludwig tensed under him and tried to speak through his fingers but Feli silenced him with a kiss. "Though, I know I won't be able to forget it any time soon, I think you can help me try."

"How?"

A mischievous smirk grew on Feli's face, "I think you could make good on that invitation you gave me." He giggled when Ludwig blushed. Feli got up and kept himself suspended above Ludwig, his amber eyes taking in his lover's new form. The German's hair was no longer in the slicked back style he wore to the wedding, the gentle underwater currents played with his fringe and it swayed with every movement he made. It didn't go unnoticed that Ludwig tried to cover up his chest when he ran his eyes down his body, "What's wrong, amore?"

Ludwig's blush intensified, "I…I'm not-its embarrassing to be so exposed."

"Don't be, everyone here have their chest exposed. Well, except the mermaids. They have seashells!" He chuckled when Ludwig turned even redder and vaguely wondered if he would have to carry him to his room should he pass out. Feli gently tugged Ludwig's arms away, "Don't hide. You make a beautiful merman. Your tail is gorgeous."

The blonde's tail immediately twitched as if it was thankful for the complement. The scales were a beautiful cobalt blue that reflected a lighter blue when the light hit just so. It twitched even more when Feli ran a curious hand down the appendage. "Feli?"

"Ve?"

"I keep forgetting to breath," admitted the new merman shyly.

"I can understand that. When I first got legs, the ability to breath in the water was taken from me and I had to fight the urge to breath underwater. I guess it's the same for you, only you have to remember that it's ok to do so." Feli helped his love up, "Does it feel ok? Having a tail I mean."

"It…feels weird. It kind of moves on it's own doesn't it?"

"Yup yup. But don't worry, I'll teach you how to control it." He lead Ludwig towards his room at the palace.

"Feli?"

"Hmm?"

"How," Ludwig took a breath to calm his nerves, "h-how do…merfolk you know…umm, do what we're going to do?"

Feliciano giggled again and nuzzled against Ludwig's arm, "don't worry. I'll show you how your new body works."

Lovino and Antonio watched as the new couple made their way into the young Italian's room. Lovi had to fight back the urge to attack the German but remembered that it was because of him that he was down here to begin with. Antonio hugged his boyfriend close, "I'm so proud of you, Lovi!"

"Whatever. I still hate the potato bastard."

The Spaniard pulled away enough to look at Lovi questioningly, "Then why…"

"Because I hated seeing my Fratellino miserable even more. Sharing the sea with the potato eater is a small price to pay to see Feliciano happy. And believe you me that my idiot brother is going to be _very _happy by the end of tonight."

"Because he's going to make lo-"

"CHIGI! Don't say it!" Lovino covered his ears and blushed with embarrassment, "I don't want to know what he does in private. But yes, that and because the potato bastard is going to propose to him or something lame like that."

Antonio looked at him sadly, "You don't like the idea of marriage?"

"I don't really care honestly." At the sight of tears in his lover's green eyes Lovi sighed. "But…I guess if a certain someone would ask, I suppose I wouldn't have much of a choice but to say yes. So long as I got three meals and a guaranteed siesta at three o'clock minimum."

"Who? Whose that certain someone? Lovino," cried the brunette with alarm, "You didn't meet someone else while I was a turtle right?!"

Lovino stared at his idiotic boyfriend resisted the urge to head butt him. "No, idiot! I was talking about you!"

"Wah! Really? You'll marry me?!" Antonio swooped him in his arms and twirled them in circles.

"Yes, damn it! Put me down, jeez. You're lucky I love you."

"Aww, Lovi, you're red! You look like a cute tomato," cried the red tailed merman happily.

"Shut up!"

* * *

**~One Month Later~**

While friends and family celebrated the union between Ludwig and Feliciano at the waters right by the palace, Gilbert had searched the shallows for the blue crab that seemed to haunt his kitchen every now and again, elsewhere a platinum blond mermaid entered a beast like cave. The first thing she noticed was the lack of polyps her brother cherished and loved to invoke fear upon. Further into the cave she felt it. Or rather did _not_ feel it. Natalya had intended to make good on her promise and never return to her siblings but when she felt a searing pain in her left eye and then nothing. She couldn't hear her brother's thoughts, feel his feelings. The last thing she remembered hearing, she tried to block from her memory. The young mermaid didn't need to hear what her brother thought of her stupid bewitching older sister. However the last thing she felt before everything went numb was his fear and heartbreak. It had taken a month to swallow her pride and come back but eventually curiosity got the best of her.

And here she was, lurking in the entrance way of her brother's cave, something she knew annoyed him to know end. Taking a deep breath she slowly swam inside and gasped at what she saw. The entire place was unkempt, vials broken, creatures dead. A foul smell came from his cauldron and algae had collected on his vanity. Any trace of inhabitance by a merman or mermaid had long been overrun by small wildlife and plant life. "No way would, big brother let the place go to hell," she muttered to herself. "Where did they go?"

Clearly her siblings had failed at their attempt to control the sea by conning the Trident from the sea king. And based on the gossip she picked up on, Arthur was well and happy. Did that mean he actually succeeded in getting that kiss before sunset?"

"It ain't a pretty sight is it?"

Natalya balled up a fist, her black scales shimmering before a shot a ball of energy from her hand at the intruder.

The merman let it hit him and chuckled, "It tickled. Please, mistress, can I have some more?"

"You're sick. What do you want, Damien?" The mermaid curled her lip in disgust, "Don't you have a posse to feed?"

Damien stopped laughing and growled angrily, his teeth becoming sharper, "They were my little brothers. And no not anymore."

"What happened?" Natalya turned her back on him and picked through the vials to see if she could salvage anything. She shivered when Damien came up behind her and ran his hands across her flat stomach before settling on her hips right where the torso became tail. "If you wish to keep those hands, Damien, you will unhand me. Ivan won't be happy to hear that-"

"Psh," scoffed the merman releasing her. "You're precious big brother is dead, Nat."

"…You're lying," she hissed.

"No, actually I'm not. I saw when they dropped his body in the Mariana. Him and what was left of your sister."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know the details but apparently Arthur vaporized her with the Trident and only her hand remained. They disposed of that in the trench too. Such a waste really. Natasha was pretty freaking hot. How she found shells big enough is beyond me." Damien ran a hand through his black hair and tossed his braid over his shoulder with a smirk.

"You're disgusting." Natalya finally understood why she was feeling the way she had.

"Jealous?"

"As if."

"Where are you going?"

"To the Mariana," she whispered. Her hands were beginning to shake as the news was finally sinking in. "I need to see for my self- let go of me!"

"No. Even for us that trench is too deep. You'll die before you even reach the bottom. Not to mention the pressure probably destroyed their bodies and if it didn't time sure did. It's been a month, Nat."

"So?! I-they-my only family's dead!" Natalya swam to her brother's cavern and wrapped herself in his blankets, ignoring how dirty they were.

Damien took pity and swam slowly towards her quivering form, "Nat?"

"Go away!"

"Nat? I'm not going to do that…"

The mermaid uncovered herself and hissed angrily, her eye glowing black as she attacked him. She pinned Damien down and held a glowing hand over his face, "Who killed him?"

Unfazed, the dark haired merman reached up and removed her eye patch to reveal a dead eye. A film had grown over the violet iris turning it milky, "The same person who killed my brothers."

"Who?"

"Arthur." Damien's own pupils were dilating but he fought the urge to transform into a shark, "He and that bastard Feliciano trapped me in the noose of an anchor. I was so pissed that I couldn't for the life of me change back into a merman so I was stuck there for some time. When I finally calmed down enough to free myself, my little brother's had died of starvation.

Natalya grunted and got up, "Maybe if you and your brother's didn't hunt merchildren you wouldn't have been banished and therefore you wouldn't be without family."

"You bitch! Maybe if your asshole brother hadn't been a greedy con artist, then he wouldn't have been banished and therefore get all of us magic merfolk sealed!"

"You would've still eaten merchildren."

Damien glared at the mermaid before smirking, "You bet your ass we would've. They're so…delicious." He watched as Natalya pulled out a box and started to place everything not broken in it along with spell books. "What are you doing?"

"I may not had be as strong as my brother or be a master of illusions like my sister but I _am_ clever. Arthur killed my brother."

"And he got his happy ever after with his human."

"He doesn't deserve it but I find that patience is a virtue. I'm going to let him think he's safe, going to wait until he's at the happiest he can be. Then I'll strike. I'll rob him of his happiness _and_ take the Trident from his asshole brother." She looked over at her brother's cauldron then at Damien.

The shark prone merman crossed his arms and cast her an amused expression, "If you want me to carry that for you, you better let me in on this vengeance thing. You're not the only one left without a family."

Natalya thought about her options and reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but you will do as I say."

"Will you punish me if I'm a bad merboy?"

"Shut up and take that damn cauldron before I break your fingers," she growled angrily as she reattached her eye patch. Damien chuckled again and did as she asked. Not because he was afraid of her or anything. He just didn't have anything better to do…

"Where to, Mistress?"

"We go north for now. I have my own cave in the Nordic region. Where my brother preferred the warm waters I prefer the ice cold ones. Come on," she picked up her box, stopping only to grab her brother's scarf and her sister's hair pins before heading out again. "We have a vengeance to plot. Arthur is going to pay very dearly for taking what was mine. He's going to wish he never set eyes on the surface and I'm going to make him squeal like the sea urchin he is."

Damien chuckled darkly, "Of course, Mistress."

* * *

Arthur woke up in a jolt, perspiration was running down the side of his temples, fringe matted down. His stomach was doing flips as he tried to calm down his rapidly beating heart. It was a bad dream. Just a bad dream. Looking over to his right, he groaned and leaned back against the head board when he saw that he'd only gotten an hour's worth of sleep. The party had only ended a while ago before his brother's and friends had departed back to Atlantica and Ludwig's family had gone to their own guest rooms in the palace. He smiled softly at the memory of Feli and Ludwig's wedding. Wolfgang and his wife had been ecstatic, they all but stamped the family crest on Feli's chest, probably would have had Ludwig not calmed them down. Gilbert had also welcomed his new brother in law with open arms and had once again partnered up with Antonio and Francis to cause mayhem, all in good humor of course.

The ceremony and party had been very intimate, the guest list was limited only close friends and family attended instead of the entirety of both kingdoms like his and Alfred's had been. Mathias and Lars seemed to be getting along well; Tino and his family had come down for the wedding. Tino and Feli had apparently become really good friends but honestly, who can meet the wayward haired Italian and not fall for his charm? Food had obviously been pasta, both human and merfolk recipes. Wurst and potatoes had been offered courtesy of Gilbert. Barrels of wine and beer imported personally by Wolfgang. Music of course was provided by Rodrich who had his ego elevated to monstrous proportions when Serafina Beilschmidt, or Mama Serafina she insisted Feli call her, praised his work and even went as far as to compare it to a distant cousin of hers…something Bach.

Alfred gently tugged his restless husband back into his arms. "What's wrong, Artie?"

"Nothing, darling," sighed Arthur as he was roused from his recollection. Despite recalling the happy moments he and his friends enjoyed hours ago, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that something wasn't right. "I probably just had a little too many sweets."

"Mmm." Alfred pulled Arthur's forearm to his mouth and he placed tender kisses along the black feather seal on it. "You know, I really love this thing. It's sexy."

"Really? I was thinking of getting it removed. Though to do it I'd probably have to go back to school to get my license." Alfred stopped kissing but didn't move his lips from the skin; he simply raised an eyebrow in question. "It's not a tattoo; it's a seal that keeps me from using magic. If I want it removed I'd have to go back to Atlantica Academy and take classes in order to receive a license to practice."

"Would you want to?"

"I don't know," sighed the merman as his husband continued placing sweet kisses on his arm down to his wrist. "Maybe…I'd have to turn back into a merman to do so. You could come with me of course."

The blue eyed prince stopped kissing and looked at his love with wide eyes, "No way, for real?!" He grinned, "That would be so totally awesome!"

"I guess it _would _be." They settled down and listened to the waves roll onto the shore before retreating again.

"Babe," whispered Alfred, "Why did you really wake up all of a sudden like that? Did you have a bad dream?"

"Probably. I don't really remember. Whatever it was, it made me feel sick." Arthur curled up against Alfred's bare chest, taking comfort in its warmth. He let out a content sigh when he felt his love trace circles on his shoulder.

"I know what can help you relax," whispered Alfred excitedly before turning his voice seductive. "As a matter of a fact Gilbert, Francis and Antonio told me something really interesting about merman biology."

Arthur rolled his eyes at the mention of the self-proclaimed Bad Touch Trio. "What did those perverted wankers say? If you had questions about it you could've come to me. I seriously doubt that frog Francis had anything of value to say. Don't forget that he was the one who told me that a fork was called a dinglehopper and I was supposed to brush my hair with it." The merman blushed in embarrassment as he recalled the day he tried to do that when he first got legs.

Apparently Alfred was remembering the same thing because he began to giggle, "Yeah, I remember that. Don't worry though, I thought it was cute." Rolling on top of his husband the mischievously seductive smirk came back, "but no, I don't think even you know about this. Antonio said that your brother's tried to keep it from you because you were their baby brother."

"Well spit it out then. What's this _interesting_ knowledge you have?"

"How do you feel about having children?"

"What?" Arthur furrowed his bushy eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about, 'having children'? You mean adopt?"

"No. I mean exactly as it sounds like. You. Me. Kids."

A bubble of laughter escaped Arthur but he stopped when he saw that his husband wasn't laughing with him. "Y-you're serious? Dear, I think you are _more_ than aware than I am a man."

"A _merman_."

"A male regardless. And as such, it is anatomically impossible for males to have children."

"Well, yeah, human males. Don't dude seahorses give birth to the baby seahorses?"

"I…I suppose so but a female is still-"

"Well, I think the concept is the same at least that's how they explained it to me. Besides it's just a theory. Your brother, Robert, seemed invested in it. Kept saying how apparently you and Feli were supposed to have all these kids. What was that about?"

Arthur scoffed, "Robert was drunk tonight. He thought that Feli and I were in love with each other because we were acting strange. Technically we were but not with each other. It was a few days after we saved you from the ship wreck."

"Ah." Alfred pressed a knee in between Arthur's legs and leaned down to nip at his neck, "So…you didn't answer my question."

"What question?" Perhaps if he feigned ignorance Alfred would forget about the whole thing…

"You. Me. Kids. Come on dude, imagine it. Little heroes with cute bushy eyebrows running around. Wouldn't it be nice?" And perhaps it was wishful thinking on Arthur's behalf.

So with a sigh, Arthur gave in. "I-I guess I wouldn't mind _if _it were possible. I'm not saying it is though because I'm still certain that it's impossible."

"Wanna find out?"

Arthur gave a mock sigh of resignation, "If I must." Smiling, he reached out to run his fingers through Alfred's hair. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The moon lit their room as Alfred pulled the covers over them. Soft touches and giggles came from under them, drowned out by the gentle sound of waves visiting the shore. In the corner of their room, in the cat tree, Max curled next to his new roommate. The Maine Coon carefully brought a heavy arm around the orange Scottish Fold, giving a loud purr of contentment when Oliver allowed himself to be cuddled. The two cats slept through the night, ignoring whatever noises came from their master's bed. They weren't completely sure what they were doing but whatever it was, it sure did make them happy. And a happy master is a happy kitty. Even if one of the masters _was_ a little merman.

* * *

**The reason why this chapter took so long to be posted is because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put Italy and Germany back together. A part of me was even considering not putting them back together at all but that would've hurt my inner Gerita fan girl. I even asked my boyfriend but even he was stumped. Hopefully it all worked out in the end. As you guys can see, I do plan on writing a sequel featuring Sealand/Peter as USUK's son. It's my head cannon that he's their offspring in the anime/web comics. I mean come on he looks like a perfect combination of the two doesn't he? I know that seahorses only carry their offspring until birth but I'm going ahead and apply the concept loosely on the mermen, just know that it will not happen the way Alfred thinks it'll happen lol . A huge thanks to everyone who left me a review, added the story to their favorites and followed it. As per usual I will post up a Memo chapter to alert you when the sequel is up. Thanks again for the love.  
**

**PS: I wrote this after listening to Lady Gaga's Applause lol**

_**I like to read your theories and thoughts on the plot**_  
_**Though I guess I can understand that some of you just like to read**_  
_**Emoticons and three letter expressions always work for me**_  
_**"OMG! That was great, you've got to update soon ;)"**_

_**I live for the reviews, reviews, reviews,**_

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_**Live for the reviews-views**_

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**Give me that thing that I love (It'll make me write faster)**  
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**(R-E-V-I-E-W-E-S) Make em real nice**  
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**aycee-san: I literally had to look away when I read your review, it was making me blush too much ^/^ But it made me happy! Thank you so much for your kind words, it really means a lot. Yeah, it was upsetting to make them the bad guys in this story cause I love them so much which is why I tried to make Russia's death as sympathy indusing as possible. It was kinda hard because of all the bad thing's he did but I think the childish way he called for Ukraine did the trick._ I_ think so at least. Thanks again for the review!  
**

**sallyatoyta: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, though I hope you enjoyed this one. I really wanted to make it a double wedding but I wanted to resolve the conflict between Gerita first. Plus I think England deserved his limelight.**

**zoewinter1: Not any more =3**

**elizabeta H. Austria: Sorry it took forever to update T_T**

**VivaAmerica: Thank you for the review ^_^ I'm glad that you stayed with me and the story, it means a lot. Truely it does. **

**YaoiFanGirl9211998: Yes, yes I did lol. I remember thinking, when I first watched the episode, that the scene was just like the scene where Ursula was singing to herself in the mirror. When I looked up the lyrics I saw that the song was inspired by said scene. Anyway thanks for the review ^.^ I hope you enjoyed this last chapter.**

**Dolly-Doll-Face: Yes! lol I'm glad you recognized it =3 I'm glad you thought so, I worried I didn't do the wedding crash justice. And yes lol, you hit the nail right on the head with Natalya. I'm planning on using her and Damien as the villains for the sequel. Thank you for the review and I hope I can count on you in the next story. If not thank you for sticking by the story ^_^ **


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